By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: The Indian Charge d’Affaires (Cd’A) in Islamabad was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today and a strong demarche was made on the Indian government’s blocking of access to content of 80 accounts on Twitter including accounts of Pakistan’s diplomatic Missions in Iran, Turkey, Egypt, UN-New York and the national broadcaster Radio Pakistan, by activating geo-blocking and censorship laws.
The Cd’A was conveyed that these Indian actions were against the international standards, obligations, norms, and framework of flow of information and reflected the alarming pace of shrinking space for pluralistic voices and curbing of fundamental freedoms in India.
It was noted that the new illegal practice employed by the Indian government of regulating the internet sphere with regard to diplomatic accounts, with a clear intent to stifle dissent stood completely against the rights to access to information and fundamental freedom of opinion or expression.
Government of India has been urged to immediately reverse its actions relating to the blocking of Pakistan’s diplomatic Missions’ Twitter accounts in India. India must also abide by the established international norms and standards as espoused by the United Nations and also ensure protection of fundamental freedoms and respect for dissent.
Wednesday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had took up the issue of blocking the official Twitter accounts of Pakistani embassies and other noted personalities by India.
The telecom regulator, in a statement, had said that Twitter has been urged to reconsider its biased suppression of information and restore official Pakistani accounts for viewing in India.
Several official Pakistani Twitter accounts, including those critical of Indian PM Narendra Modi, were blocked by the Indian government triggering a strong reaction from the Foreign Office.
The Foreign Office spokesperson had said that India had withheld access to the Twitter handles of Pakistan’s embassies in Iran, Turkiye, Egypt and the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.
“These are in addition to many others for which access has been blocked,” he commented. The spokesperson had said that diminishing space for a plurality of voices and access to information in India was extremely alarming.
He had said that social media platforms must abide by the applicable international norms. “We are urging Twitter to restore immediate access to our accounts and ensure adherence to democratic freedoms of speech and expression,” the spokesperson remarked.
