Pakistan warns social media platforms of possible nationwide bans

A Pakistan minister has warned that the government may consider banning social media platforms if they do not cooperate with authorities.

Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik made these remarks on Thursday, according to a Dawn report.

The social media platform X, which around 4.5 million people in Pakistan use, was blocked in February 2024, around 10 days after the general elections.

Speaking on Dawn News programme, Barrister Malik, responding to a question about a possible ban on incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan’s X account, said “investigations are ongoing.” He added that while the government has contacted X, the platform has shown the least cooperation compared to other social media networks.

Criticising X, the minister said the platform should not operate with double standards. “Posts related to Palestine are removed, and accounts blocked, within 24 hours. Here, we are talking about a matter of terrorism,” he said.

He further noted that the government has issued reminders to social media platforms and warned that those that fail to cooperate or coordinate could face a ban, similar to actions taken by Brazil. “Brazil’s courts had issued orders, which were then accepted, and a fine of USD 5.2 million was paid. All content taken out of context was removed,” Barrister Malik said.

X had 22 million users in Brazil before it was blocked on August 30 by Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes for failing to comply with a series of court orders aimed at combatting disinformation.

Barrister Malik said that today the government again issued a reminder, emphasising that it had already warned that these platforms are being used for terrorism, misinformation, and disinformation. “We have asked them to open offices here in Pakistan, but there has been no response. Some social media platforms are cooperating well, but X is cooperating the least,” he added.

Earlier, on October 4, the minister said that investigations regarding Imran’s X account were ongoing and that contact with the platform was underway. He had said that any measures regarding a potential block of Imran’s account would be disclosed once further evidence comes to light.

According to an October post on his official X account, Imran was also quizzed in prison by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials about his “anti-state” tweets, critical remarks on foreign policy and other topics.

A month before that, in September, a petition was filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) challenging the alleged inflammatory posts made from the official X account of the PTI founder during his imprisonment. The petitioner requested the court to direct the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to conduct a thorough investigation to determine who has been operating the PTI founder’s account while he remains incarcerated.

Imran, imprisoned since August 2023, is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the protests of May 9, 2023, reported Dawn.