A local court in Islamabad has ordered the immediate blocking of 27 prominent YouTube channels, including those run by several well-known journalists and media personalities, following a request from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) over alleged anti-state content.
Judicial Magistrate Abbas Shah presided over the hearing on the FIA’s petition, which called for the suspension of specific channels accused of publishing material deemed harmful to the national interest. The court accepted the FIA’s plea and directed YouTube to take swift action against the identified channels.
Among those affected are channels operated by Matiullah Jan, Asad Toor, Siddique Jan, Orya Maqbool Jan, Arzoo Kazmi, Habib Akram, Imran Riaz, Sabir Shakir, Aftab Iqbal, and Moeed Pirzada, among others.
According to the court’s written order, the FIA launched an inquiry on June 2 into the publication of alleged anti-state content on these platforms. The agency presented evidence to substantiate its claims, which the court found satisfactory, paving the way for legal intervention.
The order emphasized that the content produced on these channels posed a potential threat to national security and warranted immediate action. The court instructed the officer-in-charge at YouTube to ensure the blocking of all 27 channels named in the order.
