Islamabad court blocks 27 YouTube channels

ISLAMABAD: A local court in the federal capital on Tuesday directed authorities to block 27 well-known YouTube channels accused of circulating content labelled as “anti-state”.

The order was issued by Islamabad’s Judicial Magistrate Abbas Shah on the request of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

According to the court order, the FIA’s Cyber Crime Wing initiated an inquiry into the matter on June 2, 2025.

During the course of the investigation, the agency identified multiple YouTube channels allegedly involved in uploading and spreading material in violation of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) and other relevant laws.

The court noted: “In the light of facts explained and evidence presented by the enquiry officer, this court is convinced that the subject matter constitutes offences punishable under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and Penal Laws of Pakistan.”

The court said it was satisfied with the evidence submitted by the FIA and permitted legal action in accordance with 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 directive was issued on FIA’s plea filed under Section 94 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

It may be noted that the contentious Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Peca) (Amendment) Bill 2025 was signed into a 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.

The legislation was met with strong opposition from the rival parties of the ruling coalition as well as journalists and media bodies under the umbrella of the Joint Action Committee (JAC).

A report released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also underscored serious flaws in the Peca (Amendment) Act 2025 and called for the law to be repealed entirely without accepting any coercive application of the law’s previous iterations from 2016 and 2023.

Two journalists, Farhan Mallick and Waheed Murad, were also arrested under the newly adopted law earlier this year.