City
Epaper

Twitter to alert Pak before suspending official accounts

By IANS | Updated: October 10, 2019 09:30 IST

Micro-blogging site Twitter has agreed to alert the Pakistan government before it suspends official accounts, a Minister announced.

Open in App

"After two months effort, Twitter agrees on a new cadence. They will not suspend govt verified accounts without prior intimation and consultation with PK government," National IT Board Chairman Shabahat Ali Shah tweeted on Wednesday.

Following his announcement, several media outlets reported that the platform had agreed it would not suspend Pakistani accounts at all or without involving the government.

Speaking to Dawn news, the NITB Chairman clarified his statement: "They have only (unofficially) agreed to alert us (government) on complaints received against official accounts or those specified by Pakistan authorities. Whether they suspend/withhold content is still their decision."

The development comes two months after the Pakistan government in August specified about 200 accounts that were suspended by Twitter for posting content about Kashmir.

The list of accounts suspended, included Twitter handles run by some government officials.

In an August 19 letter written to the Twitter Vice President, Trust and Safety, Del Harvey, Shah said that users from Pakistan were shut down without warning or prior notice.

He requested them to bring any "belligerent content" to the government's notice before suspending the account it was posted from.

He also requested Twitter to verify government officials' accounts.

"At least government accounts should not be suspended without prior notice to the authorities. The government, too, will document content posted through official channels and review complaints lodged against them," Shah had said in his letter.

While speaking to Dawn news on Wednesday, the NITB Chairman said that he would make a list of official government handles, including of spokesmen for Ministers and other representatives, as well as some non-government accounts such as NGOs that the authorities claim responsibility for.

"Once the list is submitted to Twitter, they will notify us in future, when and if, one of those accounts have violated Twitter's rules and policies. We are yet to see what we can do once a warning is received from Twitter," he added.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: pakistanNational It BoardIans
Open in App

Related Stories

InternationalEarthquake In Pakistan: 4.2 Magnitude Tremor Jolts Region, No Casualties Reported

NationalCRPF Jawan Dismissed for Concealing Marriage with Pakistani Woman

CricketBabar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi and Other Pakistani Cricketers' Instagram Accounts Blocked in India After Pahalgam Attack

NationalPakistan-Sponsored Hacker Groups Attempt to Breach Indian Websites, Cyber Attack Foiled

EntertainmentHania Aamir, Mahira Khan, Ali Zafar and Other Pakistani Celebrities’ Instagram Accounts Blocked in India

International Realted Stories

International"If you want India's support, then you have to also support us": Robinder Sachdev on equal partnership with Europe

InternationalBangladesh should work towards reforms before holding polls: EU Ambassador

InternationalIsrael approves plan to expand military operations, occupy Gaza: official

InternationalIran rejects accusations of involvement in Houthi attacks on Israel

International14 injured in pre-dawn US airstrikes on Yemeni capital: Medics