Pakistan urges global social media platforms to block accounts run by banned militant groups

Gulf Today Report / AP

Pakistan urged global social media companies to take action to block hundreds of accounts allegedly run by outlawed militant groups that Islamabad claims spread propaganda and glorify insurgents in the South Asian country.

According to Pakistan’s Deputy Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry, groups such as the Pakistani Taliban and the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army — banned by the Pakistani authorities and also designated as terrorist groups by the United States — have been using X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram to promote violence in Pakistan.

Chaudhry, who spoke to reporters at a news conference, urged the tech companies to remove or disable these accounts, as well as those run by supporters of the militant groups.

Chaudhry said the identified accounts were being operated under anonymous names and unverified IDs. He noted that all the accounts belonged to terrorist groups and said that Pakistan was unaware of their exact origins.

The government, he said, was seeking information from platform operators to help dismantle these online networks, adding that Pakistan remained a wall between terrorism and the world.

Chaudhry further stated that many proscribed organisations under the UN, US, UK, and Pakistani sanctions were freely using these platforms. Referring to the National Action Plan, he said one of its core points was to act against individuals or entities spreading terrorist propaganda via media and social media.

He noted that hardcore terrorist groups were operating online under the guise of free speech and urged the complete blocking and removal of their accounts.

He outlined three specific demands to social media platforms: first, to block and remove these accounts; second, to implement AI-based measures to prevent the rapid creation of mirror accounts, which often reappear minutes after being removed; and third, to share account holder information, noting that such individuals were effectively part and parcel of terrorist activity.  He called for cooperation from all social media operators on these fronts.

Addressing the presser, Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik echoed these concerns, stating that many of the groups involved were not only banned in Pakistan but also designated as terrorist organisations by the United Nations. He said these groups posed a threat not only to Pakistan but also to global peace and stability.

Malik stressed that Pakistan had suffered immensely due to terrorism —not only through loss of life, but also economic and social costs. He said the country had been at the forefront of the global war on terror for over two decades, enduring the loss of more than 90,000 lives.

He added that this ongoing threat had now taken root across a wide range of platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram. It was important, he said, to explicitly name these applications, given their central role in terrorist communication and propaganda.

He added that Pakistan would welcome the establishment of social media company offices within the country to improve coordination and enforcement.

The ministers noted that terrorist organisations had increasingly turned to encrypted messaging services for communication and recruitment. They urged tech firms to implement robust systems for identifying, disabling, and reporting such accounts in line with global counterterrorism efforts.

Malik added that Pakistan was continuing to track additional accounts linked to terror outfits and stressed the need for platforms to assist by blocking and reporting all such activity.

There was no immediate response from any of the social media platforms to Pakistan's request.

The plea comes amid a surge in violence across Pakistan, much of it blamed on the two militant groups, as well as Daesh group.

The Pakistani Taliban are allies but a separate militant group from the Afghan Taliban. However, the Taliban takeover of neighboring Afghanistan in 2021 has emboldened the TTP.

Militant groups also heavily rely on social media platforms to claim responsibility for attacks against security forces and civilians in Pakistan.