Media Matters for Democracy was founded by a group of journalists geared towards media development and digital rights in Dec 2014. Over the years, after a number of like-minded individuals came on board, they have now become a team of journalists, activists, techies, designers, researchers, and lawyers striving together for progressive media, communications, and digital spaces.

Their core objective is to ensure that rights to free expression, association, access to information, and related freedoms are protected in Pakistan, in policy and practice.

MMfD also works for innovation in media and journalism through the use of technology, research, and advocacy. As the media industry steps into the digital age, they are striving to introduce new media concepts, business models, and debates within the industry in Pakistan, with an aim to enable budding journalists to effectively use digital tools for their trade.

One of their core areas of interest is digital rights advocacy, particularly in the context of freedom of expression and information, and enabling rights. MMfD in this area particularly focuses on the inclusion of citizens’ especially women voices in online spaces, advocacy for progressive communication policies, and bringing the digital rights issues into the political mainstream.

To generate credible information relating to their areas of interests, they also produce journalistic content through a team of in-house reporters, on digital rights, Internet Governance, and data stories on various thematic issues using Right to Information as a means to demonstrate the use of RTI laws for data-driven journalistic investigations.

MMfD has a strong focus on gender in the context of media, Internet, and online spaces and all their initiatives and programs include an overarching emphasis on inclusion.