Pakistan in fear of national security; admits that social media platform X was banned

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan fears that social media will affect national security. Pakistan's Ministry of Interior announced that it had banned X during the general elections in February considering it as a national security threat. Customers in Pakistan have been complaining about problems in using X since mid-February. However, the government had not given an explanation regarding this yet. This has been agreed in a document submitted by the Ministry of Interior of Pakistan.

Pakistan's interior ministry had informed the court that they had to ban X, formerly known as twitter, because the microblogging platform failed 'to adhere to the lawful directives of the government'. X has not yet responded to the proceedings. Sources in former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party had alleged that the availability of X was limited since February 8. This complaint was raised when Imran's party workers became active on social media. Imran is currently serving a long jail term.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and many other high-ranking officials are using X. Allegedly this is through VPN. The government has indicated that the ban was brought on the basis of a warning from the Intelligence and Security Department.