The Punjabi government’s demand to prohibit social media for six days during Muharram has been denied by the federal government. The Punjabi government has requested that the Interior Ministry ban social media applications from Muharram 6 to 11, which might prevent millions of residents in the province from using the internet.
Reports state that the decision was made to stop the transmission of false information and hate speech in order to stop sectarian violence. Authorities think that the dissemination of hate content is aided by outside factors, such as elements from other countries.The Punjab Home Department and the Standing Committee of Cabinet on Law and Order (SCCLO) agree that internet outages are inconvenient for the general people.
As per the officials, social media applications are the primary means of disseminating damaging content, and these apps may be accessed even in the absence of mobile internet service. During this time, they have proposed a brief prohibition on Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok. After the meeting, the SCCLO asked to limit access to these platforms in a letter to the federal interior ministry. A proposal to restrict social media for a mere two days was made earlier.
It was, however, decided to restrict all social media platforms for nearly a week due to claims of an increase in the distribution of hate content and purported outside funding for the purpose of causing unrest. It is noteworthy that X (formerly known as Twitter) has already been restricted in Pakistan for the past few months; the interior ministry is anticipated to make a decision on this in the next few days.
