Pakistan has increased its efforts to counter online extremism by urging international social media companies to take stronger measures against terrorist content, while inviting them to establish local offices in the country, high officials announced on Friday.
“We are building walls against terrorism, not to silence freedom of expression,” said Minister of State in the Interior Talal Chaudhary, during a press briefing describing the new digital security push in Pakistan.
He said Pakistan remains a “global bulwark in the fight against terrorism” and has detected hundreds of accounts related to terrorism on platforms like Facebook, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter).
According to the Ministry of the Interior, groups such as Tehrik-I-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Islamic Province of the Khorasan State (ISKP), the Baloch Liberation Army (Bla) and the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) actively use social media to spread propaganda and recruit young people.
The government said 2,417 complaints related to terrorist content were currently underway and that platforms must respond with urgency.
“Social media societies must use AI to quickly delete terrorist content,” said Chaudhary.
The officials noted that the United Nations prohibited ISKP and TTP, while the United States and the United Kingdom have appointed BL a terrorist organization, adding weight to the requests of Pakistan.
Law Minister’s lawyer Aqeel said that the promotion of terrorist ideology is “an offense punishable under PECA (Electronic Crimes Prevention Act” and warned that “delinquents will face prosecution”.
The government has called on global platforms to block terrorist accounts, to share IP data and user metadata with the authorities and to develop and to implement automatic detection and blocking algorithms.
To facilitate cooperation, Islamabad invited foreign social media companies to establish offices in Pakistan and support efforts to counter digital radicalization.
“Pakistan urges international cooperation to counter threats to digital terrorism,” said Chaudhary, adding that the country’s call aligns with global security efforts.
