Najam Sethi claims govt planning crackdown on social media after blocking VPN

Senior journalist and analyst, Najam Sethi has claimed a crackdown on social media is imminent.

Speaking in a program on a private TV, Sethi claimed that Initially, VPNs will be blocked, followed by YouTube. After these measures, the crackdown will commence, and individuals will be apprehended.

Sethi said recent legislation has been made to support the crackdown. 

سوشل میڈیا پر کریک ڈاؤن ہونے والا ہے پہلے vpns کو بلاک کیا جائے گا پھر یوٹیوب کو بلاک کیا جائے گا اسکے بعد کریک ڈاؤن شروع ہوگا اور لوگوں کو پکڑا جائے گا
نجم سیٹھی pic.twitter.com/5OxRbPyMen

— Asfandiyar Shah (@Asfandiyarshah1) May 31, 2024

Pakistani officials originally pulled the plug on X back in February, in the lead-up to the nation’s general election, though no official action was announced at that time.

Users had reported problems using the platform, formerly known as Twitter, since mid-February, when jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party called for protests against a government official’s admission of vote manipulation.

Pakistan has a long history of internet censorship, with various social platforms facing bans, at different times, in the region as part of broader measures to mitigate angst and unrest.

Rather than request censorship of users and posts, as neighboring India has done, Pakistani officials seem more likely to lean on full service restrictions, though the impetus, in both nations, is essentially the same.