Ministry of Economic Affairs X account disabled after hacking attempt

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: The Pakistan Ministry of Economic Affairs X, formerly Twitter, account (@eadgop) was hacked early Friday morning, publishing a post asking for financial support. The said account however has now been disabled by the government, and the tweet deleted. A little earlier, India had ordered the social media platform to remove over 8000 accounts without providing justification for most accounts.

X Account Hacked

Pakistan’s ministry of economic affairs X account had been hacked, during which a post was published asking the country’s international partners for more loans as tensions grow with India. 

The ministry had told Reuters that they “are working to have the Twitter (X) switched off,” and that they “did not tweet” the aforementioned post.

The misconstrued tweet read: “Govt of Pakistan appeals to International Partners for more loans after heavy losses inflected by enemy. Amid escalating war and stocks crash, we urge international partners to held de-escalate. Nation urged to remain steadfast.”

The World Bank was tagged, as well as the hashtags #IndiaPakistanWar and #PakistanZindabad.

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India orders 8000 accounts to be blocked

Yesterday, the social media platform X stated that they had received an executive order from the Indian government requiring them to block over 8000 accounts in the country. These included the accounts of international news organisaitons and prominent X users.

X stated that the orders are subject ot potential penalities includieng fines as well as imprisonement of local employees. They added that no justification for blocking was provided for a “significant number of accounts.”

X then stated that they have begun the process of witholding the accounts in India alone, despite disagreeing with the demands. 

“Blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech.”

X is exploring all available legal avenues, but for now, encourages impacted users to “seek appropriate relief from the courts.”

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