Facebook and TikTok faced the highest levels of blocking for hosting illegal and objectionable content
LAHORE:
Pakistan has blocked over a million web links and URLs due to the spread of illegal and inappropriate digital content, especially content involving defamation of judges of the higher judiciary on social media, according to a comprehensive report released by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
The report highlights the scale of digital enforcement undertaken by the regulator across major social media platforms, showing extensive monitoring, review and blocking of content deemed illegal, objectionable or harmful to public order, morality and state institutions.
According to the PTA, Facebook and TikTok faced the highest levels of blocking for hosting illegal and objectionable content. TikTok saw the strictest crackdown, with 94% of identified content blocked, representing the highest enforcement rate of all platforms examined.
The report states that 229,000 Facebook links were examined, of which 197,000 were blocked. On Instagram, 43,000 URLs were reviewed and 38,000 were blocked, a blocking rate of 87 percent.
On TikTok, the authority reviewed more than 174,000 links related to illegal content and blocked more than 163,000 video links, which is the most aggressive enforcement action on any platform.
The report further notes that YouTube had 72,000 links scrutinized, and more than 64,000 links were blocked. On
Additionally, on other digital platforms, 898,000 links were examined, of which 891,000 were blocked, reflecting almost complete enforcement action.
Overall, the PTA revealed that more than 1.4 million links and URLs were blocked for content related to contempt of court, obscenity, religious offenses, use of proxies and hate speech. Obscenity and morality-related content tops the list, with more than 1.06 million blocked links.
Content against the state and national defense accounted for 148,000 blocked links, while more than 109,000 links were restricted for anti-religious content.
In addition, 76,000 links containing sectarian and hateful content were blocked, while content related to defamation and false identity recorded the lowest blocking rate.
The PTA said the crackdown aims to combat cybercrime, protect judicial institutions and prevent the spread of illegal and harmful digital material on social media platforms.
