Television channels have been told to stop showing gruesome pictures from accidents, bomb blasts and other violence, the chairman of the government's regulator said on Thursday.
"The government is keen to continue its liberal media policy, but we can't have channels broadcasting pictures of mutilated bodies and severed heads that have a shocking effect on women and children," Ifthikar Rasheed, chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulating Authority (Pemra), told Reuters.
Last week, local news channels aired footage of the bloodied head of a suicide bomber lying on the pavement, after an attack that killed a prominent religious leader and his young nephew in Karachi.
"These sorts of pictures, we believe, glorify and preach violence," Rasheed said. Pemra has also told more than two dozen TV channels operating, that they should also avoid indecency that could offend people in Pakistan's conservative and Muslim society. "We have reminded them they need to self regulate and give balanced coverage. If the contents don't change then we have the instruments under the law to take action against such channels," Rasheed said.