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YouTube tells 27 content creators their channels could be

taken

down

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YouTube move comes after Islamabad court sought ban

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Channels at risk include main opposition party, former PM

Imran

Khan, journalists critical of government

(Updates with government's comments in paragraph 9-10)

By Asif Shahzad and Ariba Shahid

ISLAMABAD, July 9 (Reuters) - Alphabet-owned

YouTube has told more than two dozen critics of the Pakistani

government that it is considering blocking their channels after

a local court sought to ban them for being "anti-state."

The channels that could be blocked in Pakistan include that

of the main opposition party, of its leader, jailed former prime

minister Imran Khan, and journalists critical of the government,

according to the June 24 court order seen by Reuters.

The judicial magistrate court in Islamabad said it was

seeking the ban after the National Cyber Crime Investigation

Agency (NCCIA) 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."

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.

YouTube told 27 content creators that their channels could

be taken down if they did not comply with the court orders.

"If you fail to do so, as per our local law obligations, we

may comply with the request without further notice," the popular

video sharing platform said in emails this week to the channel

owners, according to a notice seen by Reuters.

YouTube's regional communications manager did not

immediately respond to a Reuters request for a comment.

POSSIBLE CRIMINAL CHARGES

Pakistan's state minister for interior Talal Chaudhry said

the content creators would also face criminal charges.

"You cannot use these cell phones and the social media

to create chaos," he told local Geo News TV. "There are laws to

regulate and they will have to work under these laws," he said.

One of the creators, Asad Toor, who has more than

333,000 YouTube subscribers, said the move was aimed at

undermining fundamental and constitutional rights of the people,

political parties and other dissident groups.

"It is not about me. It is about these people who are on the

left side of the state," he told Reuters. "I have dedicated my

platform for these underdogs who have no place to go to and

raise their voices against the state oppression."

After the government clamped down on traditional media, many

reporters migrated to YouTube, as did journalists and

commentators sympathetic to Khan, who was removed from office in

2022.

"It's not only about anchors getting fired or YouTube

channels getting banned. It's what they are not allowing to be

told and the human rights abuse they are trying to hide from the

world," said Zulfikar Bukhari, a spokesman for Khan's Pakistan

Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Khan has said his party has faced a military-backed

crackdown since his removal, a charge the army denies.

"In this day and age you can't suppress digital media," said

Bukhari.

GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN

The order is the latest in a series of laws and regulations

from Islamabad that have enabled the authorities to crack down

on critics and dissidents. It has blocked social media platforms

like X, Facebook and TikTok on several occasions.

In January, Pakistan's parliament introduced a new amendment

in the Electronic Crimes Act to further regulate cyber content,

which included a new social media regulatory authority with its

own investigation agency and tribunals.

Such tribunals will be able to try and punish alleged

offenders with prison sentences of as long as three years and

fines of two million rupees ($7,200) for dissemination of

information deemed "false or fake".

Similar laws to order the removal of disputed content have

also been introduced in neighbouring India, which has had

disagreements with X and Google over such directives. In recent

years, India has banned dozens of YouTube channels citing

national security.

Digital rights activist Usama Khilji said the Pakistani

court did not fulfil due process.

"What is jarring is the complete lack of legal process," he

said.

Toor said neither the court nor the cyber crime agency gave

him a chance to respond to the allegations, and that he would be

taking legal action against the court order.

"It is a dictatorial move. It can't silence me," he said.