In 2020 Pakistani media was confronted with the unique new challenges both in terms of content to cover as well as in the nature of the measures to restrict press freedom and the free flow of information in the country. The year presented the media with the challenge of covering the spread of COVID-19 while also ensuring that the safety of media workers.
According to the annual report on press freedom produced by Pakistan Press Foundation, 2020 also saw more aggressive forms of censorship being enforced in the country. Social media content became increasingly subject to policing with the development of policies to regulate content as well as with the registration of cases against media workers for their posts on social media. Alongside this, press freedom continued to be threatened with journalists being abducted, killed, arrested, and manhandled with impunity. Women journalists were subjected to threats and harassment online highlighting the gendered nature of attacks on press freedom.