27 Pakistani 'anti-state' YouTube channels saved with stay order, case to be heard again on July 21

A Pakistani court on Friday suspended an order seeking to ban the YouTube channels of 27 government critics, including that of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to Imaan Mazari, a defence lawyer representing two of the content creators.

This follows a June 2 report from the country's National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), which criticised the channels for "sharing highly intimidating, provocative and derogatory contents against state institutions and officials of the state of Pakistan".

ALSO READ | WATCH | Pakistan's Hina Rabbani Khar gets fact-checked by TV host over terrorist Hafiz Abdur Rauf's identity

The judicial magistrate court in Pakistan followed it up with an order seeking a ban on the channels, which later led to YouTube informing the creators that their channels could be taken down, a Reuters report said.

Pakistan's interior minister Talal Chaudhry had also said that the content creators would face criminal charges, calling their channels “anti-state”.

"You cannot use these cell phones and the social media to create chaos ... There are laws to regulate and they will have to work under these laws," Chaudhry told Geo News. "

Mazari explained that the order had “no legal basis”, calling the ban a “one-sided decision” that did not give the content creators a chance to be heard. She added that the magistrate court had no jurisdiction over the matter either.

The mounting suppression of free speech in Pakistani newspapers and television has raised concerns of censorship on social media next: one of the few remaining outlets for criticism against the government.

Earlier this year, Islamabad's parliament introduced a new amendment in the Electronic Crimes Act to further regulate cyber content, which included a number of changes such as introducing a new social media regulatory authority with its own investigation agency and tribunals, the Reuters report said.

The case will next be heard on July 21.

World