In a first, Pakistan allocates Rs.1 billion to promote official policies on digital platforms

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has for the first time allocated Rs1 billion ($6.2 million) for promotional advertisements on digital media platforms, making its officials maintain the decision will benefit the country’s media industry.
Under the new advertisement policy approved by the federal cabinet on Tuesday, the government will earmark at least 2.5 percent of the total budget outlay of any development project for running an effective advertisement campaign to create awareness about its policies, projects and initiatives and highlight their potential contribution to the socio-economic welfare of the people.
The government has for the first time included digital media and cinema for “transparent, judicious and merit-based utilization” of its resources on public sector advertisement campaigns.
“Digital platforms have emerged as primary source of information for many people in Pakistan,” Imran Ghazali, who works with the government’s digital media wing, told Arab News on Thursday. “Therefore, we have decided to give them ads like the traditional print and electronic media.”
The advertisement policy, a copy of which is available with Arab News, requires news websites and portals to guarantee minimum viewership of promotional material within 48 hours of its publishing.
The official document also maintains that if the minimum viewership criterion is not met, the digital platforms will have to post additional material until the mandatory numbers are reached to get their payment.
“Only those websites or social media pages will be eligible for government ads which are approved and registered with the Press Information Department and adhere to Article 19 of the constitution,” Ghazali said.
Article 19 of Pakistan’s 1973 constitution guarantees free speech and media freedom, though it also subjects them to “reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defense of Pakistan.”
Ghazali informed that social media influencers, bloggers and vloggers would be registered if they had a minimum following of 35,000 and were active for at least 18 months before their registration application.
“We are going to open the registration process soon,” he added. “This will help initiate a healthy competition among content creators who will ensure that people get quality and authentic information.”
He maintained that the government had formulated a transparent mechanism for registration and issuance of digital media ads.
“We believe in merit and judicious use of officials funds, therefore there is no question of any discrimination or favoritism,” he continued.
The policy says digital content creators will have to ensure viewership of half of their total number of subscribers within two weeks.
The government has also included cinema for advertisements in its policy, saying that “cinema media can reach a huge target audience each month and its advertising recalls are four times higher than ads placed on television.”
Currently, there are 148 cinema screens in Pakistan and 7,200 seats with 3.5 million customers annually and 65,000 shows per annum.
Pakistan’s federal body of journalists has welcomed the policy, though it has also urged the government to ensure transparency and merit while registering digital platforms and releasing ads.
“We hope the government will release ads for digital media without any discrimination and bias,” Shahzada Zulfiqar, president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), told Arab News.