By Asif Shahzad and Ariba Shahid
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Alphabet-owned YouTube has told more than two dozen critics of the Pakistani government that it is considering blocking their channels after a local court sought to ban them for being “anti-state”.
The channels that could be blocked in Pakistan include that of the main opposition party and also its leader, jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, as well as journalists critical of the government, according to the June 24 court order seen by Reuters.
The judicial magistrate court in Islamabad said it was seeking the ban after the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) criticised the channels in a June 2 report for “sharing highly intimidating, provocative and derogatory contents against state institutions and officials of the state of Pakistan”.
Digital rights campaigners say that any ban would further undermine free speech in Pakistan, where the authorities are accused of stifling newspapers and television and social media is seen as one of the few outlets for dissent.
YouTube told the 27 content creators that their channels could be taken down if they did not comply with the court orders.
“If you fail to do so, as per our local law obligations, we may comply with the request without further notice,” the popular video sharing platform said in emails this week to the channel owners, according to a notice seen by Reuters.
YouTube’s regional communications manager did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a comment. Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One of the content creators, Asad Toor, who has more than 333,000 YouTube subscribers, said the move was aimed at undermining fundamental and constitutional rights of the people, political parties and other dissident groups.
“It is not about me. It is about these people who are on the left side of the state,” he told Reuters. “I have dedicated my platform for these underdogs who have no place to go to and raise their voices against the state oppression.”
MIGRATION TO YOUTUBE
After the government clamped down on traditional media, many independent-minded reporters migrated to YouTube, as did journalists and commentators sympathetic to Khan, who was removed from office in 2022.
“It’s not only about anchors getting fired or YouTube channels getting banned. It’s what they are not allowing to be told and the human rights abuse they are trying to hide from the world,” said Zulfikar Bukhari, a spokesman for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Khan has said his party has faced a military-backed crackdown since his removal, a charge the army denies.
“In this day and age you can’t suppress digital media,” said Bukhari.
The order is 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 January, Pakistan’s parliament introduced a new amendment in the Electronic Crimes Act to further regulate cyber content, which included a new social media regulatory authority with its own investigation agency and tribunals.
Such tribunals will be able to try and punish alleged offenders with prison sentences of as long as three years and fines of two million rupees ($7,200) for dissemination of information deemed “false or fake”.
Similar laws to order the removal of disputed content have also been introduced in neighbouring India, which has had disagreements with X and Google over such directives.
In recent years, India has banned dozens of YouTube channels citing national security.
Digital rights activist Usama Khilji said the Pakistani court did not fulfil due process.
“What is jarring is the complete lack of legal process,” he said.
Toor said neither the court nor the cyber crime 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.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Writing by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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