By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad court has ordered the blocking of 27 YouTube channels, including those linked to Pakistan’s main opposition party and prominent journalists and political commentators, for allegedly spreading anti-state propaganda and false information, heightening concerns over freedom of expression in the country.
The ruling, issued June 24 by Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Abbas Shah and was made public Tuesday following a request from the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), a federal unit tasked with policing online activity, targets channels linked to former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf party, independent journalists, and former news anchors, reflecting the government’s growing use of cybercrime laws to regulate online dissent.
Sub-Inspector Waseem Khan of the NCCIA’s Cyber Crime Circle told the court that the channels were “involved in disseminating and propagating fake and misleading information against the state institutions which is likely to cause fear, panic, disorder or unrest in the general public or society along with defamatory and fake remarks/information, which violates the privacy and harms the dignity of the officials of state institutions.”
Among the targeted channels are those operated by the PTI, as well as journalists Matiullah Jan, Wajahat Khan, Ahmad Noorani, and Asad Ali Toor. The list also includes former TV anchors Imran Riaz, Orya Maqbool, Sabir Shakir, and Moeed Pirzada.
Khan described the channels’ content were “found involved in sharing highly intimidating, provocative and derogatory contents against state institutions and officials of state of Pakistan” and served as a “source of publicly disseminating/propagating false, misleading and fake information against the state institutions/officials.”
Khan further accused the operators of attempting “to provoke the general public and armed forces personnel by trying to create a feeling of ill-will among pillars of the state.”
The judicial magistrate Shah, after hearing Khan’s testimony and reviewing the evidence, concluded that the content “constitutes offences punishable under the Peca and penal laws of Pakistan.”
“In the light of facts explained and evidence presented by the IO, this court is convinced that the subject matter constitutes offences punishable under the Peca and penal laws of Pakistan.”
The court directed Google’s “head officer in charge of the security department/custodian of records” to block or remove the 27 channels.
The court’s ruling hinges on Section 37 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) of 2016, which governs unlawful online content. That law was bolstered in January with the signing of the PECA (Amendment) Bill 2025, a contentious measure that introduced stricter penalties for disseminating “false” information and established new regulatory and investigative bodies. Under the amended law, any person “aggrieved by fake and false information” can request its removal or blocking, with authorities required to issue orders within 24 hours.
The legislation has sparked fierce backlash. Rival political parties, journalists, and media organizations—united under the Joint Action Committee (JAC)—have decried it as a tool to suppress free speech and target critics of the government. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also weighed in, releasing a report that underscored “serious flaws” in the PECA (Amendment) Act 2025 and called for its repeal, rejecting the coercive application of the law’s earlier versions from 2016 and 2023.
The NCCIA, which plays a key role in Pakistan’s efforts to combat cybercrime, has emerged as a central player in this crackdown. Its request to block the YouTube channels underscores the government’s push to tighten control over digital platforms, which have become vital spaces for political discourse and dissent in the country.
YouTube notified the channel operators, warning that failure to act on the content could result in compliance with the court order without further notice.
“You may choose to act on the said content in term of the aforesaid court order,” read a notice issued by YouTube. “If you fail to do so, as per our local law obligation, we may comply with the request without further notice to you.”
The decision has drawn sharp criticism from the affected journalists, who view it as an assault on independent media.
Habib Akram, a Lahore-based anchor and commentator whose channel was targeted, said he and fellow journalists plan to challenge the order in court.
“I am in contact with fellow journalists whose channels have been served with similar notices, and we intend to challenge this in court,” Akram said, adding the order had been issued without any prior notice or summons from the Islamabad court. “The decision appears to lack any clear legal basis and seems to be an apparent attempt to suppress independent journalism.”
Asad Ali Toor, an Islamabad-based journalist known for his reporting on sensitive topics like enforced disappearances and institutional overreach, said the NCCIA had frozen his and his family’s bank accounts without explanation for the past three months, a move he linked to his “critical reporting.”
He called the ban on his entire channel, the first of its kind for him, unfair, emphasizing he was not given an opportunity to defend himself. “We are not only being silenced, but also criminalized for doing our job,” said Toor. “This is not just about YouTube. It’s about the future of press freedom in Pakistan.”
Matiullah Jan, another prominent journalist on the list, expressed concern over the broader implications. “I believe YouTube should not block any channel solely on the basis of an inquiry without a court order,” he said. “If this becomes a norm, it could set a dangerous precedent globally.”
The court’s action comes amid growing alarm over press freedom in Pakistan, which ranked 152nd out of 180 countries in the 2024 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. Critics highlight rising censorship, legal harassment of journalists, and tightening control over digital platforms, often justified by laws like the PECA (Amendment) Bill 2025.
Signed into law in January, the legislation enables fast-track removal of “false” information and has been widely condemned by media organizations and opposition parties for its vague provisions and severe penalties.
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