Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has told the National Assembly that social media regulation in Pakistan is falling short, with major platforms meeting well under half of official requests to take down online content linked to extremism.
In a written reply, he said social media companies complied with 23.7 percent of requests from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)—the state body that oversees telecom and related online enforcement—and 47.1 percent of requests from Counter-Terrorism Departments (CTDs), the provincial police units that handle terror cases. Overall, he described efforts to curb extremist material as insufficient.
How platforms responded to removal requests
Breakdowns by platform showed uneven results. X complied with 7.4 percent of requests, YouTube with 1.9 percent, and Facebook with 38 percent. Those figures were given when lawmakers asked about counterterrorism work and attempts to limit extremist posts online.
The numbers do not mean social media is banned. They show how often companies acted on formal Pakistani take-down requests under current social media rules Pakistan authorities already use through the PTA and CTDs.
What Naqvi reported on counterterrorism operations
Alongside the online figures, Naqvi said 5,143 intelligence-based operations (IBOs)—raids based on prior intelligence—were carried out nationwide between 1 January and 29 September 2026. He reported that those operations killed 2,410 terrorists, injured 806 others and led to the arrest of 3,518 suspects.
He said the operations continue under the National Action Plan, the federal framework for counterterrorism and related security measures. The Assembly reply tied both the street-level operations and the push on online content to that wider effort.
What this means for oversight
For readers following social media regulation in Pakistan, the minister’s reply points to a gap between official requests and what platforms remove. PTA and CTD channels remain the route the government cited for seeking content action; compliance rates, especially on X and YouTube, were presented as low.
No new ban, fine schedule or separate regulator beyond the PTA’s role in these requests was described in the reply. The immediate picture is one of acknowledged shortfalls in getting extremist material taken down, set against continued IBOs under the National Action Plan.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Wazir-e-Dakhla Mohsin Naqvi ne Assembly ko bataya ke social media companies Pakistan ki aksar content hataane ki darkhwaston par amal nahi karti. PTA ki darkhwaston par sirf 23.7 percent aur CTD ki darkhwaston par 47.1 percent amal hua; X aur YouTube par yeh rate bohat kam tha. Is ka matlab yeh nahi ke social media band ho gaya—balkay ke online extremist content hatwana abhi mushkil hai. Saath hi unhon ne kaha ke 2026 ke pehle nau mahine mein hazaron counterterrorism operations hue, jin mein hazaron giraftariyan bhi huein.
