Islamabad, December 11, 2025: The Government of Pakistan on Thursday warned social media platform X that it could face a ban and substantial financial penalties if it continues refusing to assist authorities in counterterrorism operations.
The warning was issued during a joint press briefing by Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik in Islamabad.
Talal Chaudhry said that major social media companies would face action if they kept violating Pakistani laws. He recalled that on July 24, 2025, the government had formally directed all leading platforms to open offices in Pakistan and raised alarms about terrorists exploiting digital spaces without adequate oversight.
Chaudhry said militants were now using advanced technologies—including AI tools and algorithms—to spread extremist content online. He noted that Pakistan had identified 19 terrorist-linked accounts operating from India and 28 from Afghanistan, but platforms had shown limited willingness to act against them.
He particularly criticised X and Facebook, saying both had shown “extremely poor cooperation” in removing such accounts. “If child abuse content can be auto-deleted, then why not terrorist content?” he asked, urging companies to deploy AI-based systems to automatically detect and remove extremist material.
Chaudhry also revealed that digital investigations had traced the online activity of 40 banned organisations to sources in Afghanistan.
Barrister Aqeel Malik accused social media companies of maintaining a “double standard,” noting that platforms often remove content related to Palestine within 24 hours but hesitate when Pakistan seeks action against terrorism-linked accounts.
e further said X had failed to share the IP addresses of accounts involved in extremist activity. “If platforms refuse to cooperate, Pakistan may adopt the Brazil model, where X was banned and heavily fined,” Malik warned.
He added that Pakistan could escalate the issue to international courts if non-cooperation continues, emphasising that safeguarding national security remains the government’s top priority.
