Islamabad:
A district court and sessions in Islamabad on Thursday partially annulled the order of a lower court to block some YouTube channels in view of its alleged anti-state content.
The additional judge of the District and the Muhamad AFZal Majoka sessions annulled the verdict of a judicial magistrate, accepting the requests presented by 11 content creators, including some high -ranking journalists.
During the procedure, the judge expressed dissatisfaction with the prosecutor of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (Nccia). He commented that the agency seemed to change their responsibilities to the Court, warning that such practices would not be allowed. He asked under what authority the channels were blocked and warned against the attempts of malignant judges.
Judicial Magistrate of Islamabad Abbas Shah on July 8 ordered the blockade of 27 YouTube channels, all led by journalists and creators of Pakistani content, in view of their alleged antistatal content. The channels include those led by renowned journalists such as Orya Maqbool Jan, Actab Iqbal, Mutiullah Jan and Imran Khan Riaz and Asad Toor.
Eleven of the creators of affected content had challenged the decision in the district and the session court that listened to their appeals collectively.
Previously, the Court clarified that the requests would only be entertaining if the applicants or their lawyers appear in court, and added that the cases without representation would be dismissed by breach.
