Court suspends earlier YouTube order

Express Tribune

2 days ago

Islamabad Additional Sessions Judge Afzal Majoka suspended on Friday a local court's order banning 27 YouTube channels run by different prominent Pakistani journalists and content creators.
The judge was hearing a plea filed against the ban. The legal challenge was led by a number of lawyers including Riasat Ali Azad, Zainab Janjua, Imaan Mazari and Farrukh Jillani.
Islamabad Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Abbas Shah on July 8 issued a two-page order banning 27 YouTube channels after hearing a request filed by the newly formed National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).
The NCCIA had contended that the channels were involved in propagating false and misleading information against state institutions. The channels included those run by renowned journalists like Orya Maqbool Jan, Aftab Iqbal, Mutiullah Jan and Imran Khan Riaz and Asad Toor.
"[This propaganda] is likely to cause fear, panic, disorder and unrest in the general public or society with defamatory and fake remarks. [This also] violates the privacy and harms the dignity of the officials of the state institutions," it added.
According to the NCCIA, through these channels, the content creators attempted to provoke the general public and armed forces personnel by trying to create a feeling of ill-will among the pillars of state.
In its order, the court noted that after examining the facts and evidence presented by the NCCIA inquiry officer, the court was convinced that the channels were committing offences under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), 2016 and penal laws in the country.
"The head/office in-charge of the Security Department/Custodian of Records to Google LLC, D/A/B YouTube 901 Cherry Avenue, San Bruno, CA 94066 USA is therefore directed to block/remove the said YouTube channel," the order noted.
Asad Toor, whose account was among those blocked, took to X to confirm the suspension of ban.
The order was the latest in a series of laws and regulations from Islamabad that have enabled the authorities to crack down on critics and dissidents. It has blocked social media platforms like X, Facebook and TikTok on several occasions in the past.
In January, the parliament introduced a new amendment to PECA to further regulate cyber content, which included a new social media regulatory authority with its own investigation agency and tribunals.
Toor said neither the court nor the cybercrime agency gave him a chance to respond to the allegations, and that he would be taking legal action against the court order. "It is a dictatorial move. It can't silence me," he said.