The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has revealed that it has blocked more than 1.06 million websites and online links containing obscene content in Pakistan.
The disclosure was made in the PTA’s detailed response submitted to the Islamabad High Court in a case concerning the protection of children from harmful content on social media.
According to the PTA, it has so far reviewed more than 1.789 million illegal online links and URLs, of which over 1.577 million URLs have been blocked, resulting in an overall blocking rate of 88.20%.
The authority said more than 1.066 million websites and links related to obscene content have been blocked.
The PTA further disclosed that more than 203,000 links containing content against Islam and over 46,000 links deemed against national security had also been blocked.
PTA Obscene Pakistan data
The PTA provided platform-wise details of action taken against illegal online content. It said 88.68% of reported links on TikTok, 87.34% on YouTube and 78.57% on Facebook were blocked.
On Instagram, the blocking rate stood at 79.52%, while 48.42% of links reported on X, formerly Twitter, were blocked, according to the authority.
The PTA said its powers to block illegal online content are limited and interim in nature under the existing legal framework.
It also told the court that there is currently no law prohibiting children under 16 from using social media. The authority said it cannot establish a system to verify children’s ages by going beyond the powers granted to it under existing law.
The PTA said a new legal and policy framework is required to protect children from online risks.
New authority for social media regulation
According to the PTA, the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority is being established under the PECA Amendment Act 2025.
The authority said the new body will deal with complaints regarding illegal content and impersonation, while action against cybercrimes and the spread of obscene content now falls within the mandate of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).
The PTA also highlighted technical challenges in blocking content, saying social media companies are not registered in Pakistan and are not currently bound by local laws in the same way as domestic entities.
It said HTTPS encryption makes it technically impossible to block individual pieces of content in some cases, meaning an entire website may have to be blocked.
The authority added that its requests to social media companies for local compliance and the appointment of grievance officers have so far received no response.
Measures for children’s online safety
The PTA said it is conducting awareness campaigns for children’s online safety in collaboration with UNICEF, TikTok, Meta and GSMA.
It also said a toll-free 1121 helpline has been activated for reporting online violence and exploitation involving children.
The authority further stated that Instagram’s Teen Accounts safety feature has been introduced for Pakistani users.
The PTA asked the Islamabad High Court to dismiss the relief sought in the petition to the extent that it falls outside the authority’s existing legal jurisdiction.
