ISLAMABAD: An additional district and sessions court on Friday suspended a lower court’s order to block the YouTube channels of journalists Matiullah Jan and Asad Toor, ruling that original directive was issued without due process.
Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka’s ruling came during the hearing of appeals of both journalists against the order of Judicial Magistrate Abbas Shah. Their channels were among 27 ordered to be blocked by the judicial magistrate at the request of the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency.
Lawyers for the journalists argued the channels were blocked without any prior notice or opportunity to be heard, which they said violated the constitutional right to a fair trial.
Judge Majoka observed that, prima facie, the procedural requirements for a fair hearing were not met. In one-page written order, the court emphasised the importance of transparency and said the absence of notice “undermined the legality of the original directive”.
The court suspended the magistrate’s order for Mr Jan’s and Mr Toor’s YouTube channels and issued notices to the NCCIA, seeking a response by July 21.
The initial blocking order was issued under Section 94 of the Criminal Procedure Code on June 7. NCCIA accused the 27 channels of disseminating “fake, misleading, and defamatory” content against state institutions, officials and the armed forces in violation of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act.
Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2025
