Twitter account of Pakistan government withheld in India

New Delhi: The Twitter account of the government of Pakistan was withheld in India on Saturday. No official statements have been released by either side so far. "@GovtofPakistan account has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand," pops up the message on accessing the account. More details are awaited on the same.

Notably, this is the second time that the Pakistan government's Twitter account has been withheld in India. Earlier it was done in July but had been reactivated soon. As per Twitter guidelines, the social media platform takes such action in response to a valid legal demand, like a court order.

Earlier this year in June, Twitter in India banned official accounts of Pakistan embassies in the UN, Turkey, Iran and Egypt.

Last week, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting directed YouTube to block 45 YouTube videos from 10 YouTube channels. The government informed that some of the blocked videos were being used to spread disinformation on issues related to Agnipath scheme, Indian Armed Forces, India’s national security apparatus, Kashmir, etc. The content was observed to be false and sensitive from the perspective of national security and India’s friendly relations with foreign States, it said.

The videos were blocked under provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 for containing hateful speech against religious communities and spreading communal disharmony. The government said that morphed images and videos were being used to harm India’s national security, foreign relations and public order.