Pakistan urges social media platforms to crack down on militant accounts to avoid legal action

ISLAMABAD (AP) – Pakistan on Thursday urged major social media platforms to crack down on accounts linked to militant groups, warning that failure to act could lead to stricter government measures or legal action.

At a news conference in Islamabad, Deputy Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry said scores of accounts on X were operating from neighboring Afghanistan, India and elsewhere in the world, spreading extremist content and aiding outlawed militant groups.

He presented what he described as documentary evidence and said militants were benefiting from support inside the two countries.

There was no immediate comment from Kabul or New Delhi.

An estimated 70 million people in Pakistan – a nation of about 250 million – use social media platforms. Chaudhry said Pakistan is currently serving as “a wall between terrorists and the world,” and warned that groups operating against Pakistan could eventually threaten other nations.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in violence in recent months, mostly claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, and the Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. The TTP is a separate faction but allied with the Afghan Taliban, which seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuary in Afghanistan since then.

Pakistan often accuses Afghanistan and India of supporting the BLA and the TTP, accusations both neighbors deny.

Chaudhry said Pakistani investigators recently identified at least 19 X accounts that were linked to militants and were being run from India. More than two dozen additional such accounts are active from Afghanistan, some with apparent ties to the Afghan Taliban government, he said.

“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.” He said Islamabad has repeatedly asked Kabul not to allow militants to use Afghan soil for attacks in Pakistan.

“We do not want to ban social media platforms,” Chaudhry said. “But we will be compelled to do what we do not want if we don’t get cooperation,” he said.

Chaudhry said so far the cooperation from X has remained limited, while platforms such as WhatsApp, YouTube, Telegram and Facebook have begun assisting Pakistan in identifying accounts spreading extremist content. He urged social media companies to open offices in Pakistan for better coordination and called for the use of artificial intelligence to detect and remove mirrored accounts that glorify militant groups or promote hate speech.

While Pakistan has not yet taken legal action against X, Deputy Law Minister Aqeel Malik, who also spoke at the news conference, suggested the government could consider measures similar to Brazil, where the Supreme Court fined the platform for failing to provide registration data linked to accounts spreading disinformation.

Pakistan, in recent years, has briefly banned YouTube, TikTok, and X, often accusing the platforms of sharing hateful, obscene or anti-state content. Earlier this year, Pakistan’s parliament passed a controversial bill that will give the government sweeping controls over social media, including sending users to prison for spreading disinformation.