Pakistan arrests journalist for sharing anti-army content

KARACHI, Pakistan – A Pakistani journalist was arrested on Friday in the port city of Karachi on charges of spreading hateful content against the country’s military on social media, the police and the journalist’s family said.

Bilal Farooqi, who worked for the English-language daily The Express Tribune, was arrested at his home following a complaint from an unidentified citizen who claimed that the journalist had shared posts on Twitter and Facebook to malign the military, police said.

Farooqi’s family told local media that police confiscated his mobile phone during a search of their home. No other details were immediately available.

However, journalists and press freedom advocates often accuse the Pakistani military and its agencies of pressuring media outlets to quash critical coverage.