City
Epaper

200 Pak Twitter accounts suspended over Kashmir posts

By IANS | Updated: August 20, 2019 09:55 IST

After a sea of anti-India tweets emanating from Pakistan were objected to by the authorities in India, the micro-blogging site Twitter is said to have suspended 200 accounts in Pakistan.

Open in App

The Pakistan government has specified to the Twitter that 200 accounts that were suspended in the past week were apparently posting about Kashmir, reported Dawn News.

Over the last one week, a large number of Pakistanis have taken to Twitter to report that accounts were being suspended after they posted in support of Kashmir.

The claim came from journalists, activists, government officials and fans of the military tweeting in support of Kashmir. Simultaneously, #StopSuspendingPakistanis was trending on Twitter in Pakistan.

On Sunday, Director General of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor had said the authorities had taken up with Twitter and Facebook the suspension of Pakistani social media accounts posting content on Kashmir.

Giving details about the complaint lodged with Twitter, the Prime Minister's Focal Person on Digital Media Arslan Khalid told Dawn news that the Pakistan Telecommu­nication Authority (PTA) had lodged an official complaint with Twitter's regional office on Monday.

"We are approaching this case with a multi-pronged strategy where PTA has sent the complaint mentioning (200) accounts to the regional office seeking an explanation for their suspension. We are also working on a long-term strategy through the National IT Board (NITB) so that such a situation does not arise again," he said.

A list of accounts provided to Dawn by the focal person reportedly suspended over Kashmir in the past week, includes Twitter handles run by some government officials as well.

One such account is of the focal person to the Punjab chief minister on digital media, Mashwani Azhar. A screenshot of Twitter's notice to Azhar purports that the platform suspended the account for impersonation.

Twitter, however, maintains that it enforced policies judiciously and ensured impartiality of all users, regardless of their political beliefs and country of origin, reports Dawn News.

"We believe people on all sides of an issue have a fundamental right to discuss them within the boundaries of our policies, which prohibit terrorism, hateful conduct, platform manipulation, and abuse. At Twitter no one is above our rules."

The spokesperson did not comment on the reasons that led to certain accounts specified in the email being suspended.

"We don't comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons," the official said.

Twitter did not deny or acknowledge the spike in government requests from India or Pakistan following the development on Kashmir.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: pakistankashmirDawn NewsPTAAsif Ghafoor
Open in App

Related Stories

InternationalUS President Donald Trump to Meet Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir in Washington DC Over Lunch

InternationalPakistan Gives Nuclear Bomb Threat to Israel If It Nukes Iran, Says Top Iranian Official Mohsen Rezaei

InternationalPakistani National Accused in Plot to Shoot New York Jewish Centre Extradited From Canada to US

MumbaiRam-Sita Profile Pics, Honey Traps and Leaks: Shocking Spy Plot Uncovered by Maharashtra ATS

NationalIndia Opposes Asian Development Bank Providing Financial Support to Pakistan

International Realted Stories

InternationalKremlin warns US against Iran strike, cautions of major escalation

InternationalUN report flags rise in security incidents, human rights concerns in Afghanistan

International"Signature must come from legitimate authorities," says Putin on possible peace deal with Zelensky

InternationalIraqi militia warns of strikes on US bases if Trump joins Iran-Israel war

InternationalIsrael turning 'ring of fire' against Iran, says IDF Chief