The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) informed the Lahore High Court that it has blocked over 1.4 million web links as part of an aggressive nationwide drive against “unlawful online content.” The report was submitted during a hearing presided over by Justice Ali Zia Bajwa regarding coordinated social media smear campaigns targeting state institutions and the superior judiciary. The PTA confirmed that the vast majority of these blocks were aimed at content deemed harmful to “decency and morality,” which alone accounted for 1.06 million restricted URLs.
PTA blocks over one million illegal web links in Pakistanhttps://t.co/9gZK7Dacuh#PTA #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/oJ3cChbI1r
— The_Nation (@The_Nation) January 16, 2026
The enforcement data reveals a significant disparity in how different social media giants are responding to Pakistan’s regulatory demands. TikTok recorded the highest enforcement rate at 94%, with over 163,000 links blocked out of 174,000 reviewed. Facebook followed closely, with an 86% blocking rate (197,000 links). In contrast, the platform X (formerly Twitter) showed the lowest compliance, with a blocking rate of just 62%. Other major categories for removal included content “against the security and defense of Pakistan” (148,000 links) and anti-religious material (109,000 links).
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Justice Bajwa remarked that the state retains the authority to take legal action against defamatory content even if it originates from abroad. The PTA’s report also highlighted that while the “Web Monitoring System” is effectively identifying illegal sessions, the lowest enforcement rate remains in the category of defamation and fake identities, which stands at roughly 56%. This crackdown marks one of the most significant digital enforcement periods in the country’s history as the government seeks to curb what it describes as “hybrid warfare” and organized disinformation.
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