Pakistan’s Punjab province bans social media platforms for six days during Muharram to curb ‘hate content’

After blocking X (formerly Twitter) for over four months, Pakistan’s Punjab provincial government plans to ban all social media platforms — YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok — for six days from July 13 to 18, citing the need to curb “hate content” during the Islamic fasting month of Muharram.

Prime Minister Maryam Nawaz’s cabinet committee on law and order has recommended banning all social media platforms, including YouTube, X, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, from the sixth to eleventh days of Muharram (July 13-18) in Punjab province, a state of over 120 million people, according to a notification issued in the province late Thursday night. This is to “control hateful content and misinformation to avoid sectarian violence.”

Maryam Nawaz’s Punjab government has also asked the central government of her uncle Shehbaz Sharif to issue a notice to suspend all social media platforms on the internet for six days (July 13-18).

Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Muneer has already declared social media a “malign medium” and stressed the need to combat what he calls “digital terrorism”.

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who also serves as foreign minister, recently called for a total ban on social media.

Shehbaz’s government shut down X in February last year following allegations of tampering with the general election results by the Election Commission of Pakistan, apparently on the orders of the military to prevent jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan from seizing power.

Since former Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from office following a no-confidence motion in April 2022, both the military and the government have faced backlash on social media.

Since then, the government has arrested dozens of social media activists from Khan’s party.