After the elections that were held on February 8, 2024 – and who were involved in allegations of fraud -, Pakistan ordered block social network directed by Elon Musk. This was announced by the Pakistani Ministry of Home Affairs according to court documents.
Restrictions on access to the social network began on February 17thafter Liaquat Ali ChattaRawalpindi city commissioner, publicly claimed to have helped rig the elections. Different activist organizations of the digital rights filed appeals before the Court due to the impossibility of access X.
The details of the ban in Pakistan
The access restrictions to X (formerly known as Twitter) began on February 17, after Liaquat Ali Chatta will affirm in a press conference that he helped rigging legislative and provincial elections on February 8, marked by strong suspicions of fraud. Until now, the new government had been evasive about the reasons for the interruptions in the use of the social network.
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Elections in Pakistan were held on February 8 amid allegations of fraud.
Reuters
However, court documents now report that the Pakistani interior ministry requested blocking of X. “Based on reports from intelligence agencies, the Ministry of the Interior (…) requested that X (Twitter) be blocked immediately and until further notice“.
The documents were presented before a court in the province of Sind (southern) by the lawyers of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). This fact arose in response to an appeal presented by activists, who implicate the intelligence services in the decision to block X.
Digital rights defenders believe that this restriction is intended to silence criticism directed at the new Government. The activists’ lawyer, Abdul Moiz Jaferiideclared that the authorities “They pretended not to know anything about this case“but let this answer written”admit that there is a problem and that they are responsible“.
The case of the United States and Tiktok
In a different case, USA is on the verge of banning another massively used social network – TikTok – after the House of Representatives will vote in favor of a project that suspends the app unless its parent company, ByteDance (of Chinese origin), sell the social network. After this first step, the decision will fall in the hands of the Senate.
Due to its Chinese parent company, TikTok is a concern for the United States – and other countries -, which seek to regulate the use of the social network. The main accusation is that some nations consider that the platform allows Beijing spies on and manipulates some 170 million users in the US.
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TikTok, another of the social networks that is in the eye of the storm.
Reuters
The vote in the Senate will not be an easy process: for the project to advance, 60 out of 100 members must be obtained in favor. A single Senator could turn the project around and, for example, Rand Paul (Republican) declared Washington Post that would block any violation of the Constitution and that Congress “Shouldn’t take away 170 million Americans’ First Amendment rights“.
The legal process, especially if it extends over time, gives many possibilities for opinions to change and the law not to be approved in that session. However, the current president, Joe Bidenalready stated that, if both chambers approve the project, he will sign the law.
If the bill is approved, ByteDance will have 180 days to find a local buyer for TikTok. If you do not do so, the ban will apply after the established period.
It is not the first setback that this social network suffers during 2024. A few weeks ago, the Government of Italy imposed a fine of almost US$11,000 million on the social network for “lack of content control” from the application that led to the young users to be “unprotected“.
Source: Ambito