Social media companies have complied with only 23.7 percent of content removal requests submitted by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), according to a written response from the Ministry of Interior.
The ministry said the rate covers content the authorities consider unnecessary, anti-state or linked to other sensitive issues. Compliance with counter-terrorism requests is higher, at 47 percent.
Among the platforms listed, Facebook recorded the highest compliance rate at 38.1 percent. X, formerly Twitter, complied with 7.4 percent of requests, while YouTube’s rate was 1.9 percent. The ministry added that social media companies have yet to adopt the regulations set out by the PTA.
Punjab was the source of the largest number of requests concerning online content directed against the state or government. Requests from the Punjab government accounted for 97.7 percent of the total in that category.
The ministry acknowledged that Pakistan has no organised and integrated system at the federal and provincial levels to address online threats. It also cited a shortage of trained analysts in relevant institutions and open-source intelligence cells. Security and intelligence agencies, it said, cannot maintain round-the-clock surveillance.
The response also detailed the funding position of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA). The authority requested more than Rs2.98 billion for the 2026-27 financial year, but only Rs1.33 billion has been released for the current year.
The ministry described NACTA as a statutory body dedicated to counter-terrorism, with no power to make arrests or exercise law-enforcement authority. It said NACTA is set to be transformed into the National Counter Terrorism Division.
