Pareesa Afreen 
Dec 13, 2025
The government may consider banning social media platforms if they fail to cooperate with authorities, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and Minister of State for Law and Justice Aqeel Malik said on Thursday.
His remarks come amid ongoing concerns over the use of social media for terrorism, misinformation and disinformation in Pakistan.
During a briefing with foreign media in Islamabad, Barrister Malik was asked about a possible ban on the X (formerly Twitter) account of former Prime Minister Imran Khan due to some previous controversies.
The minister went on to say that “The government has formally expressed concerns to such platforms as X, Meta, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok, and Telegram.”
The government wants such platforms to improve content filtering, work with the law enforcement agencies, and use AI to identify extremists.
“This is our last warning. Such companies are required to follow Pakistani laws, set up offices here in Pakistan, and trace links with terrorism," said Chaudhry.
It has been revealed that several accounts are linked to regional militant groups, which are banned by the US as well as the UN, because of cross-border activity on the internet that leads to radicalisation.
Barrister Malik said, criticising X’s policy, when he was questioned on the matter: "Posts regarding Palestine are removed; accounts are blocked within 24 hours. Here, we are speaking of a matter of terrorism," he said, without mentioning any specific examples.
X was blocked in Pakistan in February 2024, a little over 10 days after the general elections. The service has been approximated to have 4.5 million users within the country.
"If social media platforms do not coordinate with the government, they might also be banned," he added, giving the example of Brazil. In the Brazilian case, X was blocked in August because the platform did not follow a court order to combat disinformation. "Courts imposed fines on them, and they were forced to take down certain content," Malik said.
The minister said the government has repeatedly asked social media companies to open offices in Pakistan, but X has not responded.
