Pakistan has identified at least 481 social media accounts allegedly linked to proscribed terrorist organisations and is calling upon international tech companies to take immediate action in blocking and dismantling these online networks. This appeal was made by Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik during a joint press briefing held in Islamabad.
According to Talal Chaudhry, the flagged accounts were operating anonymously through unverified identities, with content and activities traced back to banned groups. He stressed that Pakistan was unaware of the physical locations from where these accounts were being managed and emphasized that social media platform operators should assist in identifying the users and their operations. He reiterated that Pakistan continues to serve as a barrier against global terrorism and remains committed to countering digital extremism.
Chaudhry said several groups sanctioned by the United Nations, United States, United Kingdom, and Pakistan are actively using platforms to propagate extremist ideologies. He referenced Pakistan’s National Action Plan, pointing out that one of its core pillars focuses on preventing terrorist messaging through all forms of media, including digital spaces. He urged for strict enforcement against groups abusing the concept of free speech to disguise militant messaging.
The minister presented three key demands to tech platforms: to remove the identified accounts, to deploy artificial intelligence tools to curb the immediate reappearance of such content through mirror accounts, and to share account holder details so law enforcement can take appropriate action. He emphasized that those operating such accounts are not just enablers but direct participants in extremist activity, and that online platforms must take shared responsibility in disabling such operations.
Barrister Aqeel Malik echoed these concerns and warned that many of these groups had not only been outlawed within Pakistan but also held the status of designated terrorist entities by the United Nations. He stated that these actors were undermining not just national security but international peace as well. He pointed out that terrorism had inflicted immense human and economic losses on Pakistan, with more than 90,000 lives lost over two decades of counterterrorism engagement.
Malik highlighted that the nature of this threat has shifted into the digital domain, especially on widely used platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram. He said that Pakistan would welcome local offices of global social media firms to strengthen compliance, communication, and enforcement protocols.
The ministers further noted that encrypted messaging services have become a preferred tool for communication and recruitment among banned outfits. They called upon global tech firms to adopt more advanced monitoring systems that can flag and disable such accounts while assisting law enforcement through timely information sharing. Malik added that Pakistan continues to track more accounts and reiterated the need for coordinated international support to curb the spread of online terrorist activity.
