ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday said it was seriously concerned by the news emanating from the Indian and US media that Delhi had attempted to “infiltrate the security system” of social media platform Twitter by “forcing it to employ an Indian agent/representative”.

Quoting media reports, the Foreign Office in a statement noted that the matter came up during Twitter’s briefing to India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology where “legal depositions” made in the US by a former Twitter employee were also discussed.

Regrettably, it pointed out, a large number of Twitter handles, particularly those belonging to Kashmiri political leaders and media persons, “continue to remain blocked due to India’s frivolous legal objections”.

Only last month, Islamabad lodged a strong protest with the Indian government over the blocking of access to content of several Twitter handles of Pakistan’s diplomatic missions as well as the national broadcaster Radio Pakistan, it added.

Calls on New Delhi to revoke access restrictions on Pakistani accounts

Pakistan deplored India’s “brazen abuse of state-power and strong-arm tactics to manipulate and force-regulate the internet sphere”.

These actions are not only against international standards, obligations, norms, and framework of flow of information but also reflect the alarming pace of shrinking space for pluralistic voices and curbing of fundamental freedoms in India, the statement added.

Pakistan called upon India to immediately reverse the blockage of Twitter accounts of Pakistan’s diplomatic missions and Radio Pakistan to adhere to the established international norms and standards of freedom of expression as espoused by the United Nations, and desist from employing subterfuges to control the global internet domain.

It is obvious that India under a well-thought-out policy has been trying to tame the microblogging platform to achieve its diplomatic goals.

In late June, Pakistan expressed alarm after India blocked Twitter accounts of Pakistani embassies in several locations.

“Deeply concerning that India has blocked flow of information to Indian Twitter,” the FO had said in a tweet after India withheld access to some accounts at that time.

The FO said the accounts that were withheld in India were official handles run by Pakistan’s missions in Iran, Turkiye, Egypt, and the United Nations. In its tweet, the FO had identified these handles as @PakinIran, @PakinTurkey, @PakinEgypt and @PakistanUN_NY.

The Foreign Office pointed out that these accounts were in addition to many others to which access had been blocked.

On June 27, it was reported in Indian news outlets that Delhi had also withheld the Twitter handle of the official Radio Pakistan. The reports at the time said the move came after the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had blocked 16 YouTube channels, including six Pakistan-based channels, claiming they were “spreading disinformation related to India’s national security, foreign relations, and public order”.

Twitter had also blocked accounts of certain journalists — Indian and international — who were critical of the Modi regime.

The FO at the time urged Twitter to immediately restore access to the Pakistan missions’ accounts and ensure adherence to democratic freedom of speech and expression.

In response to the development, Radio Pakistan spokesperson Chaudhry Zameer Asharf had said the broadcaster upheld objectivity in its news stories and strictly abided by international journalistic norms.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2022