Govt for removing social media accounts of terror groups

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Friday called on international social media platforms to take immediate action against accounts operated by banned terrorist organisations, which it said were spreading propaganda online.

In a joint press conference in Islamabad, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik urged global tech firms to shut down fake accounts and share the identities of those operating them with Pakistani authorities.

Talal Chaudhry said Pakistan is not silencing free speech but is instead building a wall against terrorism “These terror outfits, some of which are banned in the US, UK and by the United Nations, are actively using platforms like X, Facebook and WhatsApp to promote extremist agendas.”

He added that one of the key goals of the National Action Plan (NAP), introduced in 2014, was to combat not only physical terrorist activities but also digital propaganda, including through the misuse of media and social media platforms.

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The interior minister stressed that groups glorifying terrorism or promoting hate speech should be banned across digital spaces. He also asked companies to deploy artificial intelligence tools to identify fake accounts and implement automated detection and blocking algorithms to enable swift action.

Barrister Aqeel Malik said that Pakistani security agencies had flagged 481 social media accounts allegedly linked to banned terrorist groups and submitted them to relevant platforms for action.

He called for deeper cooperation between social media companies and Pakistan’s law enforcement bodies to enhance counterterrorism operations, including the use of AI to detect and remove more such accounts.

Malik also invited international social media companies to set up offices in Pakistan, saying, “This will improve coordination and allow us to tackle the digital threats more efficiently.”

He noted that while Pakistan had paid a high price in the fight against terrorism, a new digital front had emerged. “Groups like the banned TTP, IS-Khorasan, Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front are now increasingly active on platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram and Telegram,” he said.

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“These organisations, whether using real or fake identities, are recruiting online, spreading misinformation, and posing a threat to Pakistan, its citizens, and the global community,” he added.

The ministers reaffirmed the government’s commitment to tackling extremism both on the ground and in cyberspace, and reiterated their call for social media platforms to cooperate in this effort.