On October 1, Saturday, the Twitter account of the government of Pakistan has been withheld in India. Twitter now displays a notice on the profile that says that the account has been withheld in India following a legal demand.
Notably, as of now, only the Twitter handle of the government of Pakistan has been blocked. Its accounts on other social media platforms like Facebook, Youtube and Instagram have not been withheld.
Though it is not yet clear what prompted the move against the official Twitter handle of the Government of Pakistan, the move came almost immediately after the Government of India withheld the social media account of the radical Islamic organisation Popular Front of India (PFI).
PFI’s website and social media accounts withheld in India day after Modi govt banned the Islamist outfit
On September 29, the Twitter account of Popular Front of India (PFI) was withheld in India. The move came following the ban on the Islamist organisation and its sister organisations imposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India (GoI), on September 27 via gazette notification. The message on the account reads, “@PFIOfficial’s account has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand.”
Along with the Twitter account, PFI’s website, Facebook account and YouTube profile have been blocked.
Pakistan officials come out in support of the banned Islamist outfit PFI
Notably, Pakistani officials had openly come ahead to support the banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI). Rattled by the ban imposed on PFI and its allied organizations, Pakistan tried to gather international support for the Islamist organization. Pakistan’s Consulate General Vancouver tagged the Twitter handles of various organizations affiliated with the United Nations and European Union in its response to the tweet by the official handle of the PFI.