Pakistan to ban all social media platforms for 6 days during Muharram
- In Reports
- 11:13 AM, Jul 05, 2024
- Myind Staff
The Pakistani government plans to ban all social media platforms—YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok—for six days from July 13 to 18 to curb "hate material" during the holy month of Ramadan.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s cabinet committee on law and order has recommended the prohibition of all social media platforms—YouTube, X, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, among others—from 6 to 11 Muharram (July 13-18) in Punjab, a province with over 120 million people. This measure aims to “control hate material, misinformation to avoid sectarian violence”, according to a Punjab government notification issued here late Thursday night.
The Pakistan government had earlier successfully blocked X (formerly Twitter) for over four months.
Pakistan Army Chief Gen Asim Munir has already declared social media a "vicious media" and underscored the need to fight what he called "digital terrorism".
Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who also serves as the Foreign Minister, recently advocated for a complete ban on social media.
The Shehbaz government had previously shut down X last February following allegations by the Election Commission of Pakistan regarding manipulation of general election results, reportedly on the military establishment's orders to prevent Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's imprisoned founder, Imran Khan, from gaining power.
Both the military and the government have faced backlash on social media since former Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted through a no-confidence motion in April 2022.
The Pakistan government had claimed that “hostile elements operating on Twitter/X have nefarious intentions to create an environment of chaos and instability, with the ultimate goal of destabilising the country and plunging it into some form of anarchy”.
Since then, the government has arrested dozens of social media activists from Khan's party.
Image source: Times of India
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