Key points from Fawad Chaudhry's interactive session with digital broadcasters [VIDEO]

The Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Fawad Chaudhry, held an interactive session with digital broadcasters on Monday.
The minister disclosed some surprising developments during the session.
He initiated the session by discussing the rise of the media and the subsequent challenges in contemporary times.
Due to the emergence of the media into a more complex form, the flow of information has become harder to authenticate, Chaudhry added.
The minister remarked that this had lead to a swift increase in the spread of fake news.
He provided an example of the recent police operation against the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in Karachi, falsely hyped by Indian netizens as a “civil war” on Twitter.
The minister remarked that he had already predicted the takeover of digital media over traditional media back in 2018.
During that time, he had also informed the Finance Ministry over the growth of advertising in the coming years.
It is pertinent to note that the advertising figures predicted by Chaudhry were surpassed by the actual figures, revealing the unpredictable rise of advertising on digital media platforms.
The minister emphasized the need for implementing regulatory measures to curb the spread of misinformation and manipulation over the ever-growing digital media platforms.
Consequently, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has decided to establish the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA), Chaudhry added.
The minister disclosed statistics regarding satellite channels, radios, broadband networks, and newspapers.
Following this, he revealed statistics regarding gadgets, broadband depth, internet depth, over-the-top-media (OTT) services, and sim networks, which proved his point of the massive growth of digital media.
In Chaudhry’s own words: Ultimately, digital media will define the media landscape of Pakistan.
This does not mean the content will change, but only the medium of communication, Chaudhry added.
The minister, however, emphasized the need for the implementation of regulatory measures over digital media for the public interest.
He explained this by saying TikTok videos of random girls going to school might not be a problem in Australia/England, but it might be in Pakistan.
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has studied the media jurisdictions of the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, India, Malaysia, and Singapore to gain a broader perspective.
Currently, seven laws regulate Pakistan’s media landscape, Chaudhry added.
These include the PTA, the Press Council of Pakistan, PEMRA, ITNE, ABC, and others.
The minister remarked that laws — unless they are converged — could not be implemented via different regulatory bodies due to the modern mobile phone’s functioning as a single source of different media platforms.
This is why the authorities have now decided to terminate the seven existing laws and replace them with the PDMA, Chaudhry added.
The minister explained that the existing Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) would also be terminated as it was creating hurdles for filmmakers due to decentralization.
Instead, a new, centralized CBFC is set to take shape.
The minister remarked that PEMRA has always been an affluent department. Nevertheless, it had not spent a single penny on the training and development of journalists.
The incumbent authorities will change this and have created a development wing for the capacity building of journalists, Chaudhry added.
The minister disclosed that the new media laws would not include imprisonment if breached, unlike some previous laws. Instead, a fine would be imposed.
He added that PEMRA had the authority to impose a maximum fine of ₨. 1 million. However, this had created loopholes.
Therefore, the authorities can now impose a maximum fine of ₨. 250 million.
The minister added that the authorities are now forming a Media Complaints Commission and a Media Tribunal.
The Media Complaints Commission would resolve the grievances pertaining to the media. A decision would be announced within 21 days, and a right would be granted to appeal against the decision in the Media Tribunal, Chaudhry added.
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has also formed a Media Commission in this regard.
Previously, only the people from the print media could go to the ITNE regarding their complaints, Chaudhry added.
The minister remarked that the authorities have recently released ₨. 700 million for advertisement.
The Press Information Department (PID) has been integrated fully into the digital system. As a result, the payments of the ads are made via an automated system, Chaudhry added.
The minister reiterated the importance of media tribunals’ formation to resolve the complaints pertaining to the media.
In the new advertising policy, the registered digital media agencies would potentially receive funding from the government for advertisement, Chaudhry added.
A journalist shared his positive experience of using TikTok and discussed with the minister to lift the restrictions on the app.
To this, Chaudhry concurred with the journalist and said that he is against banning apps. TikTok can be used positively or negatively; it depends on the individual.
Another journalist questioned the minister about the dates of the new developments’ implementation.
He also asked the minister about the criteria to get funding from the government for digital media advertisement and whether there would be bias in its implementation or not.
To this, Chaudhry assured that there would be no bias as the funding would be done transparently, and the criteria is to just get registered with the government.
Another journalist inquired from the minister about the criticisms from the opposition and how the authorities would bring the opposition on the same page.
To this, Chaudhry remarked that there is no such thing as “same page” with the opposition on big decisions.
The opposition is against the media tribunal and the convergence as it would be beneficial to the ordinary media worker, which would ultimately threaten the big names, Chaudhry added.
The minister added that journalists should stand with ordinary media workers and not with big names in the media.
Another journalist appreciated the minister’s initiatives but questioned whether the advertisement support by the government would subjugate the media.
To this, Chaudhry reiterated that the advertisement funds to digital media organizations would be in the most transparent way.
The minister added that the authorities are open to changes in the developments if the journalists point out ways to improve transparency.