ISLAMABAD, July 11 (Reuters) - A Pakistani court on

Friday suspended an order seeking to ban the YouTube channels of

more than two dozen critics of the government including former

Prime Minister Imran Khan, a defence lawyer said.

Alphabet-owned YouTube this week told 27 content

creators that it could block their channels - including those of

journalists and Khan and his opposition party Pakistan

Tehreek-e-Insaf - if they failed to comply with a judicial

magistrate court order seeking to ban them.

A regional communication manager for YouTube did not respond

to a Reuters request for a comment.

The judicial magistrate court in Islamabad had said it was

seeking the ban after the National Cyber Crime Investigation

Agency 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."

The decision to suspend the order was taken by an additional

sessions judge, said Imaan Mazari, the lawyer for two of the

YouTube content creators.

In Pakistan, an additional sessions judge is a judicial

officer who presides over a sessions court, handling both civil

and criminal cases.

"Our submission is that the order has no legal basis. It was

a one-sided decision without giving defence a chance to be

heard," Mazari said.

She also said the magistrate court had no jurisdiction over

the matter.

The next hearing in the sessions court is on July 21.

In Pakistan's judicial system, cases start at civil and

judicial magistrate courts and appeals are heard in high courts

and the Supreme Court.

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.

(Editing by Timothy Heritage)