Government to block social media use by terrorists

The Government of Pakistan’s National Action Plan (NAP) coordination committee, citing rising terrorist attacks within the country, declared that “comprehensive” steps would be taken to block the social media accounts of proscribed terrorist organisations, coupled with provincial-level blocking of the sales of illegally acquired mobile SIMs. Citing events in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , the NAP committee meeting urged the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and other government institutions to provide an “effective mechanism” to tackle the problem of social media accounts. The timing of the NAP coordination committee meeting, and coverage of its findings, however, has led critics to suggest that there may be more political motives, coupled with legal actions directed at the wife of Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, and the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, in the wake of the PTI protest march to Islamabad in late November.