Islamabad | The Microblogging site Twitter earlier on Thursday suspended accounts of various Baloch political parties and leaders ahead of warning from the telecom authority.
The action by the social networking site has come after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) issued a warning to ban Twitter in Pakistan if the micro-blogging website fails to block objectionable content. The suspended Twitter accounts include @BNMovement_, belonging to Balochistan’s largest peaceful political mass party which supports the idea of independent Balochistan, its chairman @ChairmanKhalil, Baloch Students Organisation Azad BSO-A @BalochNatFront and the founder of BSO-A Dr. Nizar @DrAllahNizar.
Earlier in 2012 Pakistan banned access to YouTube after an anti-Islam film, “Innocence of Muslims”, was uploaded to the site, sparking violent protests across major cities in Protest. However, in 2016 Pakistan removed a three-year ban on YouTube after the Google-owned video-sharing website launched a local version that allows the government to demand removal of material it considers offensive.
Many twitter users in Pakistan termed this act of suspension as an unjustifiable act to suppress the freedom of speech. Niaz Zehri a former leader of BSO-A wrote, “Media is a blackout in #Balochistan by the Pakistani military. Social media is the only tool to highlight war crimes and human rights violations from the affected areas, but it’s sad to see that @Twitter is following the path of Pakistan and suppressing the voice of Baloch nation”.
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