An Islamabad judicial magistrate has ordered the blocking of 27 YouTube channels for allegedly airing anti-state content and spreading “false, misleading and fake” information.
The decision of a lower court, in my view, will be challenged in higher court mainly because of the fact that reaching the conclusion that all those YouTube channels who have been banned were indeed involved in disseminating and propagating fake and misleading information requires a specialised expertise which signifies that the forum that has placed the ban has a deep understanding and proficiency within a special domain of cybercrime, often acquired through focused training, experience, or study.
Hence the need for superior judiciary for delegating the responsibility of adjudication through setting up special courts on the pattern of banking courts, etc. After all, Pakistan is a vibrant democracy unlike India about which social media platform X said yesterday it was “deeply concerned” after the Indian government ordered it last week to block 2,355 accounts, including two Reuters news agency accounts.
Needless to say, India, the world’s biggest democracy, regularly ranks among the top five countries for the number of requests made by a government to remove social media content.
Shahid Ramday (Lahore)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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