Pakistan confirmed this Wednesday (17) the blocking of X (formerly Twitter) citing “concerns” about national security. The blockade, which has been occurring since February, was officially recognized by the country's Ministry of the Interior through a document that was sent to a court.
The decision to block “destabilize the nation”. The ministry accused X of being “reluctant” to cooperate with Pakistani authorities to resolve “critical issues”.
The confirmation of the blocking of the social network comes after the general elections held on February 8, marked by allegations of fraud and vote manipulation. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is in prison and was banned from running in this election, also had his party suspended from contesting this election, which forced his candidates to run as independents.
During election month there were also reports of widespread interruptions in access to billionaire Elon Musk's platform in Pakistan's main cities and cuts to mobile internet services on election day.
The international community, including the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and the European Union, condemned the country's electoral process and called for credible investigations into allegations of fraud.
According to information from the Hindustan Timesa senior official in the current government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who was re-elected, made a public admission that there was vote manipulation in the February elections.
The US State Department, through spokesman Matthew Miller, expressed support for Pakistanis' right to access the internet. Miller emphasized the importance of the availability of social media for the Pakistani people and the world, however, he did not speak directly about blocking X.
The decision to suspend X was criticized by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Sindh province, Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, who received the document from the government. Abbasi questioned the effectiveness of the measure and expressed concern about Pakistan's international image.
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