ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ordered the implementation of laws aimed at protecting people from online harassment, blackmailing and the misuse of digital media, directing relevant authorities to submit a comprehensive report on the measures taken to enforce these laws, ARY News reported.
Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir issued the written order, directing the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to report on the implementation of laws governing the removal of unlawful digital content and the redressal of complaints.
The court also directed the Ministry of Information Technology, PEMRA, PTA, NCCIA and other relevant ministries and departments to convene a meeting to identify legal, administrative and technical obstacles to the implementation of the laws. The authorities were asked to explain what steps had been taken or proposed to address these obstacles and where coordination between different institutions was required.
The relevant authorities were further directed to inform the court about measures to prevent online harassment, blackmailing and the unauthorised publication of private content.
The written order also incorporated a report submitted by the PTA, which detailed the rates at which requests to block unlawful content on social media platforms had been implemented.
According to the PTA report, the compliance rate for requests to block content related to national defence and security stood at 59.1 per cent, while requests concerning terrorism-related content had a compliance rate of 79.51 per cent.
The report stated that 76.54 per cent of content classified as being against the sanctity of Islam and 98.91 per cent of content related to decency and morality had been blocked. The compliance rate for requests concerning sectarian and hate speech content stood at 64.43 per cent.
Platform-wise figures showed that the content-blocking rate was 48.42 per cent on X, formerly Twitter, 78.57 per cent on Facebook and 79.52 per cent on Instagram. The rates stood at 87.34 per cent on YouTube and 88.68 per cent on TikTok, according to the PTA report.
The court order stated that social media companies had been asked to fulfil registration requirements with the PTA and appoint local officers to address complaints, but no positive response had been received.
According to the order, the PTA reported that social media operators often rejected requests to remove content.
The court noted that the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) provides for the establishment of a Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority, with broad powers and responsibilities to remove or block unlawful content.
The court questioned whether the competent authorities were exercising the legal powers available to them under the relevant laws and rules. It also stressed the need to assess the level of coordination among PEMRA, the PTA and the NCCIA in enforcing the laws and addressing complaints.
