Pakistan has urged major social media platforms to remove accounts linked to militant groups and warned of possible legal or regulatory action if companies do not cooperate. Deputy Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry said investigators found dozens of problematic accounts operating from Afghanistan, India and elsewhere and presented documentary evidence. Officials called for better platform cooperation, local offices in Pakistan and use of AI to detect mirrored militant accounts, while noting past brief restrictions and a recent controversial social media law.
Pakistan Demands Social Platforms Remove Militant Accounts, Warns of Legal Action
FILE - In this July 21, 2020 file photo, a man opens social media app 'TikTok' on his cell phone, in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed, File)
Pakistan on Thursday called on major social media companies to remove accounts linked to militant groups, warning that failure to act could prompt stricter government measures or legal proceedings.
Deputy Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry, speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, said investigators had identified scores of accounts on X being run from neighboring Afghanistan, India and other countries that were spreading extremist material and supporting outlawed militant organizations. He said he presented documentary evidence at the briefing and accused militants of receiving assistance from inside both neighboring states.
There was no immediate response from officials in Kabul or New Delhi.
Chaudhry noted that roughly 70 million people in Pakistan — a country of about 250 million — use social media platforms. He described Pakistan as currently acting as "a wall between terrorists and the world," and cautioned that groups operating against Pakistan could ultimately threaten other countries as well.
Pakistan has seen a recent uptick in violence, much of it claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The TTP is a separate faction but is allied with the Afghan Taliban, which took control of Afghanistan in August 2021. Many TTP leaders and fighters have reportedly found sanctuary in Afghanistan since then.
Islamabad frequently accuses both Afghanistan and India of backing the BLA and TTP; both Kabul and New Delhi deny those allegations. Chaudhry said Pakistani investigators recently identified at least 19 X accounts linked to militants that were being managed from India, and more than two dozen additional such accounts active from Afghanistan, some of which he said appeared to have ties to the Afghan Taliban government.
"This is a matter of serious concern," Chaudhry said. "Kabul is not only sheltering militants but, in some cases, elements of the Afghan government are providing patronage to individuals spreading hate material and terror content against Pakistan."
Chaudhry urged platform operators to cooperate, open local offices in Pakistan for better coordination, and deploy artificial intelligence to detect and remove mirrored accounts that glorify militant groups or promote hate speech. He said cooperation from X had been limited so far, while platforms such as WhatsApp, YouTube, Telegram and Facebook have begun assisting Pakistani authorities in identifying extremist accounts.
Deputy Law Minister Aqeel Malik, who also addressed the briefing, said Pakistan could consider measures similar to those used in Brazil, where the Supreme Court fined a platform for failing to provide registration data tied to accounts spreading disinformation. Pakistan has in recent years briefly restricted services such as YouTube, TikTok and X, often citing hateful, obscene or anti-state content. Earlier this year, Parliament passed a controversial social media bill that grants the government broader powers over online platforms, including potential penalties for users found spreading disinformation.
Pakistani officials emphasized they do not want to ban social media platforms outright but said they would be compelled to take stronger action if companies fail to cooperate in tackling extremist content and accounts that threaten national security.
