According to ARY News, transmissions stood suspended in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Sialkot, Hyderabad, Faisalabad among other cities on the orders of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Dr Shireen Mazari and Shahbaz Gill took to Twitter to share screenshots showing the suspension of the transmissions on Nayatel.
The suspension comes hours after the news channel reported that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had launched a systematic campaign against the PTI and chairman Imran Khan on the recent martyrdom of Pakistan Army personnel in the Balochistan chopper crash. It was claimed that the first task of an alleged government media cell was to prove that Imran Khan and PTI were anti-army. Moreover, it was reported on the channel that the PML-N’s strategic media cell, which was activated on June 27, is furthering a narrative to prove Imran Khan as an anti-army politician.
In 2017, six channels of ARY network were banned in Britain after the network failed to substantiate its allegation against the Geo Television owner Mir Shakilur Rehman. These Included ARY Digital, ARY News, ARY QTV, ARY World News and ARY Entertainment. Since then, a UK based news channel New Vision TV Limited [NVTV], holds the exclusive rights to broadcast ARY News in the UK. Other notables who have successfully sued the media house include former finance minister Ishaq Dar, educationist Syed Alam Shah, Nasir Butt of the PML-N and business tycoon Mian Mansha.