India blocks Pakistan ex-PM Imran's Instagram account

New Delhi widened tit-for-tat measures against Islamabad on Saturday, blocking access to the social media accounts of Pakistani politicians, actors and cricketers.

On social media, India banned on April 28 more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading “provocative” content, including Pakistani news outlets.

On Saturday, further restrictions blocked access in India to the Instagram account of Pakistan’s ex-prime minister and cricket captain Imran Khan. The YouTube account of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif also banned in India.

Bollywood movie regulars Fawad Khan and Atif Aslam were also off limits, as well as a wide range of cricketers — including star batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan and retired players Shahid Afridi and Wasim Akram.

The Instagram accounts of major Pakistani actors, including Hania Aamir, Ayeza Khan, Mahira Khan, Sajal Aly, Bilal Abbas, lara Aziz and Ali Zafar, are no longer accessible to users in India. Actor and singer Ali Zafar’s social media accounts is also banned in India.

Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem’s Instagram account was also no longer accessible to Indian users, reflecting the broad scope of the clampdown beyond just cricket. Users in India attempting to access these accounts are shown a message indicating that they are unavailable due to compliance with a legal request.

The text on the Instagram pages of these artists reads, “Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.”

When the news broke that several Pakistani artists’ Instagram pages have been blocked in India after government action, Indian fans had one burning question — what about Hania Aamir? Unfortunately for these fans, they won’t be able to enjoy any more of Aamir’s content without a VPN because her account is no longer accessible in India.

Moreover, many other Pakistani YouTube channels have been banned in India for provocative and communally sensitive content, along with false and misleading narratives targeting India, its Army, and security agencies.

The other banned channels include Dawn News, Irshad Bhatti, SAMAA TV, ARY NEWS, BOL NEWS, Raftar, The Pakistan Reference, Geo News, Samaa Sports, GNN, Uzair Cricket, Umar Cheema Exclusive, Asma Shirazi, Muneeb Farooq, SUNO News HD, and Razi Naama.

Agencies
I