RAWALPINDI: The National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) has asked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting not to allow the publication or airing of any of its threat alerts, in a bid to avoid creating panic and fear among the public.

A letter issued by the Nacta, available with Dawn, calls on the information secretary to enforce section 3-1(C) of Official Secrets Act 1923 and stop print and electronic media from publishing or telecasting news related to official threat alerts issued by Nacta to the relevant law enforcement agencies.

Such news, the letter states, “causes not only panic among the public... but also compromises the response of law enforcement agencies”.

According to Nacta, this constitutes a violation of the Official Secrets Act, which is punishable with imprisonment.

“The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is requested to issue clear directions to the departments concerned, i.e. Pakistan Electronic Media Regulator Authority, Press Information Department etc. that in future no such material/information may either be printed or aired in the print or electronic media in the best interest of the state,” the letter reads.

An official privy to the matter told Dawn that such news items, when circulated via electronic or social media, only created panic among the people and affected the working of law enforcement agencies.

“News related to threat alerts don’t serve the people and only creates insecurity; people avoid sending their children to school and going to their workplaces. This is what happened over recent days when such news items were aired,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2017