Pakistan Blocks X right before Elon Musk’s visit to India

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Right before Elon Musk’s visit to India, the micro blogging site X, formerly known as Twitter, and owned by Musk, has been blocked in Pakistan, citing national security and privacy reasons. However, the Sindh High Court of Pakistan has directed the government to cancel the ban on X.

Elon Musk is due to visit to India at the end of this month, and is also expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to Geo News report, Sindh High Court has asked the Pakistan government to lift this ban within a week, or else the court will be compelled to take action on the next date, which is May 9th, 2024. Many human right activists n the country are already demanding for restoring X.

Notably, X has been barely accessible in the country since February 17th, 2024, days after former Rawal­pindi commissioner Liaquat Chattha had accused the chief election commissioner and chief justice of Pakistan of being heavily involved in rigging and manipulating the country’s general elections, which were held on February 8th.

Pakistan’s Interior Ministry mentioned the shutdown in a written court submission on Wednesday. “It is very pertinent to mention here that the failure of Twitter/X to adhere to the lawful directives of the government of Pakistan and address concerns regarding the misuse of its platform necessitated the imposition of a ban,” noted a report submitted to the Islamabad High Court (IHC).