In a recent report from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), significant disparities have been revealed in how major social media platforms handle requests to block objectionable and unlawful content.
Covering the period from January 2021 to June 2024, the data shows that X (formerly known as Twitter) exhibited the lowest compliance rate among the platforms analyzed.
Out of 69,372 URLs processed by the PTA, X blocked only 41,414, resulting in a compliance rate of 59.70%. This positions X at the bottom of the list in terms of adherence to the PTA’s content blocking requests.
In stark contrast, TikTok emerged as the platform with the highest compliance rate. The popular video-sharing app blocked 107,003 out of 109,359 URLs, translating to a compliance rate of 97.85%. This places TikTok far ahead of other major platforms in terms of compliance.
Facebook also demonstrated a strong compliance rate, blocking 79,904 out of 94,141 URLs, achieving a compliance rate of 84.88%. Instagram followed closely with a compliance rate of 85.60%, having blocked 18,260 out of 21,333 URLs. These figures indicate that while not at the top, these platforms still show considerable adherence to the PTA’s requests.
YouTube and Likee also showed high compliance rates. YouTube blocked 36,351 out of 41,954 URLs, resulting in a compliance rate of 86.64%. Likee was close behind, blocking 5,530 out of 5,760 URLs, achieving a compliance rate of 96.01%. These numbers reflect these platforms’ significant efforts in addressing the PTA’s concerns over objectionable content.
Dailymotion and SnackVideo had lower but notable compliance rates. Dailymotion blocked 23 out of 32 URLs, translating to a compliance rate of 71.88%. SnackVideo, meanwhile, blocked 6,829 out of 7,241 URLs, resulting in a compliance rate of 94.31%.
The content flagged by the PTA spans various categories, including defamatory, immoral, anti-Islamic, anti-security and defense, sectarian, and contempt of court. The report highlights the varying degrees of responsiveness among social media platforms in addressing these concerns.
