Social Media Sites to be Blocked for 6 Days in Pakistan

The Pakistani government plans to block all social media sites, including YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, from July 13 to 18 to combat "hate material" during Ramadan. This judgment followed a four-month suspension of X, previously Twitter.

According to a Punjab government notification issued late Thursday night, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz's cabinet committee on law and order recommended the ban from 6 to 11 Muharram to "control hate material, misinformation to avoid sectarian violence" in the province of Punjab, which has over 120 million people. The Punjab administration has urged the federal government, led by Nawaz's uncle, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, to carry out the suspension.

"Social media is a vicious media," warned Pakistan's army commander General Asim Munir, highlighting the importance of combating "digital terrorism." Ishaq Dar, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister, has urged for a full ban on social media.

The Shehbaz administration earlier shut down X in February after the Election Commission of Pakistan accused it of interfering with general election results, a move said to have been pushed by the military to prevent Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf founder Imran Khan from winning power. Since Khan's removal via a no-confidence resolution in April 2022, the military and administration have encountered substantial reaction on social media, resulting in the imprisonment of several social media activists affiliated with Khan's party.