Pakistani authorities have approached Twitter management against the unannounced crackdown on Pakistani Twitter accounts at the behest of the Indian government.
The spokesperson of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTIA), Khurram Mehran, told media reporters that so far, they have received nearly 400 suspension complaints. “We have taken up this matter with the micro-blogging website,” he said.
Mehran said that after their complaint, Twitter restored 66 accounts, while 330 remain suspended.
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The telecom watchdog has asked users to report their complaints at ‘[email protected]’ so that the issue can be raised with Twitter officials for an immediate resolve.
Terming Twitter’s action against the freedom of speech, PTA said the US-based company was playing in the hands of the Indian lobby.
PTA considers the action of Twitter admin against set principles of freedom of speech. Social media users are encouraged to report such suspended accounts to PTA so that the issue can be raised with Twitter officials.
Several Pakistani journalists have also been a victim of the biased Twitter policy.
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Hasan Zaidi, a prominent journalist, wrote:
I had been locked out of my account again over a frivolous troll farm complaint. This time I refused to delete the tweet to get access back and decided to contest on principle.
All this started this September when hundreds of Pakistani accounts were either permanently blocked or temporarily suspended for raising voice against the Indian brutalities in Kashmir.
The micro-blogging website also sent notices to President Dr. Arif Alvi, Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri and Minister for Communications Murad Saeed along with several other politicians over pro-Kashmir tweets.
The services of the Honorable Khurram Shahzad the spokes Person the PTA for the Blockage of Twitter Account is worth more than praise to build the image of the regulatory regime.
May I suggest you may seek help from the Foreign Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad to pursue the matter with the respective Governments to refrain from this practise in Pakistan, being un-fair and biased.