Islamabad court nullifies ban on 11 YouTube channels

• Judge Afzal Majoka accepts YouTubers’ appeals against closures.
• Magistrate’s earlier shutdown order declared null and void.
• Judge questions NCCIA authority to impose channel bans.

A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Thursday overturned a judicial magistrate’s verdict for imposing a ban on 11 YouTube channels.

In June, Judicial Magistrate Abbas Shah directed authorities to block 27 well-known YouTube channels accused of circulating content labelled as “anti-state”.

The closure of the channels was requested by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).

The district and sessions court has been hearing the appeals challenging the ban on the YouTube channels.

Judge Afzal Majoka announced its reserved verdict on appeals filed by 11 YouTubers against the closure of their channels.

The judge accepted 11 appeals, declaring the judicial magistrate’s order to shut down the YouTube channels null and void.

During today’s hearing, Judge Majoka expressed displeasure at the NCCIA prosecutor, saying: “You have started taking over our work; I will never allow this.”

He further questioned under which authority the channels could be blocked, while remarking that efforts were being made to malign judges.

In the previous ruling issued in June, the court noted: “In the light of facts explained and evidence presented by the enquiry officer, this court is convinced that the subject matter constitutes offences punishable under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act [Peca] and Penal Laws of Pakistan.”

The court had said it was satisfied with the evidence submitted by the NCCA and permitted legal action in accordance with the law.

It may be noted that the contentious Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Peca) (Amendment) Bill 2025 was signed into a law in January, with new definitions, the establishment of regulatory and investigative bodies, and stricter penalties for disseminating “false” information.