Islamabad court orders to block 27 YouTube channels for campaigning against state institutions

ISLAMABAD: A local court in Islamabad has ordered the blocking of 27 YouTube channels belonging to several journalists and the opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), under the Pre­vention of Electronic Cri­mes Act (PECA).

The order came after the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA) moved to the court against the channels for allegedly airing anti-state content and spreading “false, misleading and fake” information.

In a letter written to the Judicial Magistrate Islamabad on June 24, the Sub-Inspector (SI) Waseem Khan of the NCCIA’s Cyber Crime Circle said that an inquiry was initiated with the approval of the competent authority into several YouTube channels that are allegedly involved in disseminating and propagating fake and misleading information against state institutions.

In a verdict today, the court said it was satisfied with the evidence submitted by the FIA and permitted legal action under the law.

As per the written order, the head or officer in charge of the security department or custodian of records of Google LLC (YouTube) has been directed to block or remove access to the 27 identified YouTube channels.

The YouTube channels in question belong to journalists Imran Riaz Khan, Siddique Jaan, Orya Maqbool Jan, Mattiullah Jan, Asad Toor, Ahmad Noorani, Wajahat Saeed, and many others. The official YouTube channel of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party channel, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is also on the list.

The YouTube channel of journalist Ahmad Noorani has already been removed, and several other journalists and digital media outlets have received notices from YouTube, informing them about the legal request received from the Government of Pakistan to remove their channels.

Earlier, the agency informed the court that these channels are “accused of spreading content that could cause fear, panic, disorder, or unrest in the general public or society”, as well as defamatory and fake remarks that violate the privacy and harm the dignity of officials of state institutions.

NCCIA stated that these YouTube channels are found to be involved in “sharing highly intimidating, provocative, and derogatory content” against state institutions and officials of Pakistan.

“During the inquiry, it came to record that the mentioned YouTube channels were involved in publicly disseminating and propagating false information against state institutions and officials,” the letter reads.

The action was taken under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Peca) (Amendment) Bill 2025, which was enacted into law in January, with new definitions, the establishment of regulatory and investigative bodies, and stricter penalties for disseminating “false” information.

According to the Peca 2025, any person “aggrieved by fake and false information” can approach the authority for removal or blocking access to such information, and the authority would issue orders no later than 24 hours on the request.