Sr NoDateIncidentEnquiry/FIRPetition 1July 2016 Nadeem James was arrested upon the accusation of a friend that he shared blasphemous material on Whatsapp. 221 September 2016 Nabeel Chohan arrested in Pakistan after “liking” an allegedly blasphemous Facebook post. 304 January 2017Two human rights activists, Waqas Goraya and Asim Saeed, known on social media for their leftist views [...]

Month/Year Government Announcements Initiate Crackdown and Regulate Social MediaDisappearances/Summons/Detentions/FIRs/Arrests Based on/Linked to Social Media PostsContent Restriction: Website Blocking, Requests to Companies, Twitter Notices Petitions Challenging PTA and FIA Action, and PECA January 2017Jan 25: Khabaristan Times, a satirical website, blocked. According to Facebook’s Transparency Report for July-Dec 2016, Pakistan made 1,002 requests to Facebook for [...]

Government Announcements to Crackdown and Regulate Social Media Content Blocking, Restriction and Takedown Requests

The table below is based on information available in news reports, online and legal documents. It records incidents between 2017-2019, where legal action under existing laws has been taken against individuals on the basis of their social media posts, which includes issuance of summons, initiation of enquiries, registration of FIRs, detentions and arrests.