‘My only crime is reporting truth'—Pakistan bans 27 YouTube channels over ‘anti-state content'

The Print

3 days ago

'They've thrown in a few non-PTI names to make it look like a fair crackdown. But this is about silencing Imran Khan's supporters ahead of his son's rumored return and planned rally,' Kazmi told ThePrint.
Among the banned channels are those of prominent journalists, including Matiullah Jan, Ahmad Noorani, Asad Ali Toor, and former television anchors Moeed Pirzada and Imran Riaz Khan. Also on the list are channels associated with supporters of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), signaling what critics describe as a broader effort to silence critical voices, according to Kazmi.
New Delhi: An Islamabad court on Tuesday banned 27 YouTube channels for airing 'anti-state content' and spreading 'false, misleading and fake' information. Many of these accounts were also banned in India during Operation Sindoor. Arzoo Kazmi, the Pakistani journalist whose YouTube account was banned, called the action an effort to silence Imran Khan supporters. She, however, does not identify as an Imran supporter.
Kazmi is well known in India and has often appeared on TV debates here. After Operation Sindoor, when India imposed a blanket ban on Pakistani social media accounts, Arzoo's YouTube channel was also banned.
'We have been targeted for being vocal against the military and the government. In my shows, I've said that Hafiz Saeed is under house arrest, but Imran Khan is behind bars. I have also condemned the arbitrary arrest of Baloch activist Mahrang Baloch,' she said.
Pakistan's big brother move has this time taken independent journalists in its clutches. Rights groups and independent journalists are calling it an alarming escalation in Pakistan's crackdown on dissent.
'This is censorship, plain and simple,' senior journalist Matiullah Jan told ThePrint from Islamabad. 'My only crime is reporting the truth, reporting on unconstitutional interference by the military in our politics and judiciary. Now they want to shut me down.'
Jan, based out of Islamabad, is a senior journalist and currently runs the YouTube channel 'Matiullah Jan MJtv'. Over the years, he has reportedly faced repeated harassment, threats, and enforced disappearances due to his critical reporting on the civil-military establishment.
The request to block the channels came from the recently established National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), a body created under the Interior Division to monitor illegal activity on social media platforms.
According to local reports, the inquiry by NCCIA's Cyber Crime Circle was initiated under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, which pertains to unlawful online content.
In January this year, Pakistan's parliament passed a Bill to amend the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016.
The amendments grant the government sweeping powers to regulate social media. Penalties include up to three years in prison and a fine of up to PKR 20 lakh for spreading fake news. The law also prohibits sharing statements from banned organisations or their members, and broadens the definition of social media platforms to include any online information management systems.
YouTube has since notified at least some of the affected channel owners. Jan confirmed receiving a legal notice from the platform informing him of the Islamabad court's directive. The message noted that if content creators did not take voluntary action, YouTube might remove the material in question under Pakistan's 'local law obligations', a claim that has raised eyebrows among digital rights advocates, given the platform's limited legal presence in the country.
Digital censorship, history of harassment
Jan described a long and harrowing pattern of state-sponsored intimidation. He said he has been abducted twice, including once in broad daylight in the capital. In one case, CCTV footage showed uniformed officers detaining him, but even Pakistan's Supreme Court failed to reach a conclusion after taking notice.
Jan claims that successive governments, both civilian and military-backed, have systematically tried to silence him. In recent years, he said he's been fired from his television job at Waqt News TV in 2018, falsely charged with terrorism, and had his family members' bank accounts frozen.
'I have reported from the Supreme Court for decades. Now I am the target,' he said. 'My channel, MJtv, became my only source of income after losing my mainstream job. And now, even that is under attack.'
Asad Ali Toor, another journalist whose YouTube channel was named in the court order, echoed Jan's concerns. He said the state has never formally informed him of any inquiry or charges.
'I've been condemned unheard,' he said. 'There's no transparency, no due process. I was not even given a chance to respond before the judge issued this order.'
Toor has faced multiple arrests, beatings, and online smear campaigns over his reporting on military overreach and the suppression of marginalised communities. Earlier this year, he discovered that his own bank account, as well as his mother's pension account, had been frozen, without prior notice.
In May, the Islamabad High Court ordered the bank accounts be restored, calling the government's actions a 'violation of due process.' The court noted that no investigation details had been shared with Toor, only vague references to 'anti-state' content and alleged financial crimes.
Benazir Shah, a reporter with Geo News, recently published a series of posts on X, revealing how individuals loosely connected to Toor such as a man who sold him parrots also had their bank accounts blocked. In one case, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) allegedly demanded an affidavit from a production house owner stating that he did not share Toor's political views as a condition for unfreezing his account.
Ahmad Noorani, an independent journalist who lives in exile, too, had a similar ordeal. His family was abducted earlier for his story on military nepotism in Pakistan. Noorani's story claimed that the relatives of Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir were being handed key federal positions due to their familial ties. His brothers were released after 33 days but are no longer 'functioning normally'.
'Our bank accounts are blocked. The state wants us to die of hunger and debt in order to suppress us,' Noorani told ThePrint.
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A pattern of repression
These are not isolated cases. Farhan Mallick, a media entrepreneur and former news director at Samaa TV, was arrested in March this year, on charges related to 'anti-state' content. He was granted bail in April, but not before enduring multiple legal cases and mounting criticism by civil and digital activists over his unjust arrest. Mallick maintains that his arrest was politically motivated.
Others, like digital rights activist and co-founder of Bolo Bhi, a digital rights advocacy organisation, Fareiha Aziz, argue that the current wave of online censorship reflects a broader regional trend.
'So much is wrong with this order. YouTube doesn't even have a legal obligation in Pakistan like it does in India. So what are these 'local law obligations' it's referring to? This is about appeasement and censorship, not legality,' Aziz wrote on X.
For journalists like Jan and Toor, the stakes are deeply personal. Despite repeated threats, legal harassment, and even physical violence, both say they will challenge the court's decision in court and continue reporting.
'This fight is bigger than us,' Jan said. 'It's about the future of press freedom in Pakistan. And we're not going to back down.'
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)