The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has disclosed to the Sindh High Court that it has taken action to block over 1.25 million URLs due to objectionable content, as reported by the telecom sector regulator.
The submission came in response to a petition filed against the proliferation of “objectionable, unethical, immoral, and unlawful” content on social media platforms. According to the PTA, out of the 1,253,522 blocked URLs, the majority—988,659—were banned for indecent and immoral content.
Additionally, 90,980 URLs were blocked for content deemed offensive to Islam, while 84,130 were flagged for content concerning security and defense. URLs associated with sectarianism, hate speech, defamation, impersonation, proxies, contempt of court, among other reasons, were also blocked.
Breaking down the figures, the PTA revealed that 139,415 Facebook links, 98,597 TikTok links, 50,975 YouTube links, 18,123 Instagram links, 5,184 Snackvideo links, 4,285 Bigo and Linkee links, and 550 Dailymotion links were among the blocked URLs, with the remainder categorized as miscellaneous.
The PTA informed the SHC that it maintains a record of approximately 1.34 million URLs, of which around 71,722 are still accessible, and 16,122 requests for URL blocking were rejected. Emphasizing that the process of verifying and re-verifying URLs is continuous, the PTA characterized it as an “ongoing exercise.”
The PTA’s response was submitted following its inclusion as a respondent in a petition lodged by some YouTube content creators regarding objectionable content on social media platforms.
During the hearing, the authority affirmed that it had blocked Instagram and YouTube URLs as mandated by Section 37(1) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, which grants PTA authority to remove or block access to information considered necessary in various contexts, including safeguarding Islam’s glory and Pakistan’s integrity, security, or defense.
The PTA also raised objections regarding the petition’s maintainability, stating that the petitioners did not approach the PTA with their concerns and failed to provide specific URLs of objectionable content.
The SHC adjourned the hearing until May 15 to allow the deputy attorney general time to seek instructions from other respondents and file comments.
At a prior hearing, the SHC had directed the PTA to enforce relevant laws to prevent and remove objectionable content from social media platforms. Counsel for the petitioners reiterated that the PTA had the authority to address such content under prevailing legislation and urged the court to issue directives for prompt action.
 disclosed to the Sindh High Court on Tuesday that it has taken action to block over 1.25 million URLs due to objectionable content, as reported by the telecom sector regulator.){kind=link}