Pakistan has blocked more than one million web links and URLs spreading content against religion, the state, and public morality, according to official data.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) conducted a major crackdown, targeting Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms for illegal and inappropriate content.
On Facebook, over 229,000 links were reviewed, with 197,000 blocked. Instagram saw 43,000 URLs checked, 38,000 of which were blocked, reflecting an 87 percent blocking rate. TikTok had the highest crackdown, with over 174,000 links checked and more than 163,000 blocked, resulting in a 94 percent blocking rate.
On YouTube, 72,000 links were reviewed and over 64,000 blocked. X (formerly Twitter) had over 112,000 links checked, with 70,800 blocked, marking the lowest blocking rate of 62 percent. Across other platforms, 898,000 links were checked, with 891,000 blocked.
Overall, more than 1.4 million links and URLs related to contempt of court, obscenity, anti-religion content, proxies, and hate speech were blocked. Content violating morality and decency was the largest category, with 1,061,000 links blocked. Anti-state and anti-defense content accounted for 148,000 blocked links, material against religion over 109,000, and sectarian or hate speech 76,000. Links involving defamation and fake identities recorded the lowest blocking rate.
The PTA said these measures aim to protect societal ethics, national security, and religious sentiments while curbing the spread of objectionable digital content.