Islamabad – July 25:
The Pakistani government has urged global social media companies to swiftly take action against accounts affiliated with proscribed terrorist groups that are spreading extremist propaganda online.
During a joint press conference held in Islamabad, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik highlighted growing concerns over the digital presence of banned outfits on platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram.
Chaudhry emphasized that extremist entities, many of which are outlawed globally—including by the United States, United Kingdom, and the United Nations—are actively leveraging social media to circulate hateful content and radical narratives. He urged platform operators to not only remove these accounts but to also use artificial intelligence tools to detect and prevent the creation of duplicate or “mirror” accounts.
“We request full cooperation from social media companies in blocking harmful content, sharing data of account holders linked to terrorism, and implementing auto-detection mechanisms,” he said.
Highlighting the efforts of the National Action Plan (NAP), which was established in 2014 to counter terrorism in all forms, Chaudhry reaffirmed that countering digital extremism is now a vital component of the state’s anti-terror policy.
Barrister Malik revealed that authorities had already identified 481 social media accounts tied to banned outfits and submitted them for removal. He called for stronger collaboration between digital platforms and law enforcement, suggesting that tech companies establish local offices in Pakistan to enable better coordination.
“The presence of groups like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Islamic State Khorasan Province, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) on social media represents a serious threat, not just to our country but to global peace,” Malik stated.
He also noted that these groups are increasingly using encrypted apps for recruitment and propaganda, with WhatsApp channels being a growing concern.
Both ministers underscored Pakistan’s ongoing sacrifices in the fight against terrorism and stressed the need for timely and decisive digital cooperation to prevent extremist ideologies from spreading unchecked in cyberspace.
