Pakistan says 333 Twitter accounts suspended over Kashmir content

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said on Thursday social media giant Twitter had suspended over 300 accounts of Pakistani users over posts related to the ongoing crisis in the disputed Kashmir region.
On August 5, the Indian government revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in a bid to fully integrate India’s only Muslim-majority region with the rest of the country, the most far-reaching move on the troubled territory in nearly seven decades.
Anticipating unrest, authorities immediately moved to launch a clampdown in Kashmir by suspending telephone and Internet services and putting some leaders under house arrest.
But in Pakistan, politicians, army officers and average citizens took to social media websites in droves to accuse India of human rights violations in the territory at the heart of more than 70 years of hostility between the two countries.
Twitter has since suspended hundreds of Pakistani accounts in connection with Kashmir-related posts but the company denies the suspensions are politically motivated or biased in favor of India.
“In its efforts to raise the issue of blocking of Twitter accounts, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has reported to Twitter administration a total of 333 handles suspended,” PTA said in a statement, saying only 67 accounts had been restored so far after complaints from Pakistan.
“PTA, in addition to raising its concerns with Twitter administration about the biased approach toward Pakistani Twitter users in strong words, has also requested Pakistani social media users to report any Twitter account suspended on the pretext of posting pro-Kashmir content to PTA at [email protected],” PTA added.
“Twitter has not responded officially nor given any reason of suspension of these accounts,” the statement said. “In this context PTA has invited Twitter’s administration for a meeting in Pakistan or elsewhere to have meaningful discussions and devise a workable arrangement. However, Twitter has yet to respond.”
In response to email queries by Arab News last month, Twitter said it enforced its policies “judiciously and impartially for all users — regardless of their political beliefs and country of origin.”
A Twitter spokesperson said: “Twitter exists to serve the public conversation, including in national and regional events of political importance. We are founded on the principles of free expression and believe people on all sides of an issue have a fundamental right to discuss them within the boundaries of our policies, which prohibit terrorism, hateful conduct, platform manipulation, and abuse.”
Dr. Arslan Khalid, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s focal person on digital media told Arab News last month that apart from considering a lawsuit against Twitter for suspended Pakistani users’ accounts, the government was discussing a “multi-pronged strategy” against the company, including sharing all details related to suspended accounts on public forums to expose what Pakistan believes are actions biased in India’s favor, and moving the United Nations against what the government sees as a curtailment by Twitter of users’ freedom of expression.
Khalid said Pakistan was also in the process of formulating new laws to ensure that social media companies operated under Pakistan’s rules and regulations.

Pakistan says 333 Twitter accounts suspended over Kashmir content