Geo News‘ 15-day broadcast suspension will end tonight at midnight.
The suspension was imposed by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) following the channel’s transmission on 10 Muharram, which the regulator said included sensitive religious visualisations that could hurt viewers’ religious sentiments.
In addition to the 15-day suspension, PEMRA directed Geo News to pay a Rs1 crore fine.
The regulator also ruled that employees found responsible for the broadcast will be barred from working at any other media organisation in Pakistan.
On June 28, PEMRA suspended Geo News‘ licence with immediate effect.
Later, the news channel issued a public apology, saying it “fully acknowledges the mistake” and remains committed to responsible journalism.
In a statement, the channel said the purpose of the clarification was not to justify the incident but to admit the error, explain the steps taken and reaffirm its commitment to preventing similar incidents in the future.
Geo News said the mistake was completely unintentional and did not reflect its editorial values or institutional beliefs. It added that the material was released due to an internal oversight and apologised unreservedly.
The channel said it identified and corrected the mistake before any external complaint and accepted full responsibility. It also confirmed that no formal inquiry was initiated because the issue was addressed under its internal policies.
