Federal and provincial information commissioners, lawmakers and civil society representatives on Thursday reaffirmed their commitment to protecting citizens’ fundamental right to information, declaring that timely, accessible and reliable government information is the country’s most effective defence against disinformation.

The consensus emerged at the National Conference on Countering Disinformation through Accessible and Reliable Government Information, organized by the Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability–Free and Fair Election Network (TDEA-FAFEN) in Islamabad.

The conference brought together representatives of the Pakistan Information Commission and the Provincial Information Commissions of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh, along with parliamentarians, provincial legislators, government information officials, district administration representatives, right-to-information activists, civil society organizations and media professionals.

Participants called for strengthening the operational and financial autonomy of information commissions and equipping them with adequate powers and resources to enforce RTI laws. They also recommended the adoption of uniform minimum standards for proactive disclosure so that government information is accessible, understandable, searchable and usable by citizens.

The participants further proposed expanding the legal definition of public bodies, where required, to explicitly cover constitutional institutions as well as private entities receiving public funds, subsidies, tax rebates, concessions or other benefits from the public exchequer.

Senator Jan Mohammad, Member of National Assembly Pullain Baloch, former Senators Farhatullah Babar and Afrasiab Khattak, Members of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh Sajjad Ali Soomro, Mazahar Aamir, Bilqees Mukhtar, Members of Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Aiman Jalil Jan, Naheed Noor, Shahida Waheed, Arbab Usman and others attended the conference.

The information commissions were represented by Chief Information Commissioner of Pakistan Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui; Information Commissioner Ijaz Hassan Awan; Chief Information Commissioner Punjab Muhammad Malik Bhulla; Sindh Information Commissioner Advocate Noor Muhammad Dayo; Balochistan Information Commissioner Abdul Shakoor Khan; and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Commission Deputy Director Syed Sadat Jahan.

FAFEN Chairperson Mukhtar Javed emphasized that effective implementation of RTI laws offered a more sustainable response to disinformation than punitive measures. He said FAFEN would continue monitoring the implementation of right-to-information laws, documenting compliance by public bodies and publishing evidence to support legislative and institutional reforms

Addressing the conference, TDEA Executive Director Shahid Fiaz said that Article 19A of the Constitution and the five federal and provincial RTI laws provide a strong legal foundation for transparency. However, the distance between parliamentary intent and citizens’ lived experience remains wide, and it is within this gap that disinformation flourishes.

TDEA-FAFEN’s assessment of more than 600 public bodies, together with its review of federal and provincial RTI laws, has documented weak proactive disclosures, inadequate enforcement mechanisms, under-resourced information commissions and widespread non-compliance with statutory reporting obligations.