Twitter will not terminate Pakistani accounts

Social networking website Twitter will no longer unilaterally suspend or terminate user accounts originating from Pakistan, according to a statement.

On August 19, the government of Pakistan, in a letter to Twitter Vice President Trust and Safety Del Harvey, had said accounts of users from Pakistan were shut down without warning or prior notice.

The letter further said that suspending such accounts had caused massive unrest, resentment and anger among the general public, and asked Twitter to amend their policy this regard.

Chairman of the National IT Board Shabahat Ali Shah met with Twitter officials recently in which important issues between the Twitter administration and the government of Pakistan were discussed.

The government statement further revealed that Twitter will no longer unilaterally suspend the accounts of Pakistani users and will contact the government of Pakistan in case of any complaint beforehand.

During the meeting, the issue of suppressing the voice of Pakistani Twitter users by Indians also came under discussion, in which Twitter officials were told that hundreds of Pakistani Twitter accounts were suspended for raising their voice for Kashmiris.

Twitter officials were told that after India’s illegal annexation of occupied Kashmir, there had been an increase in Indian bullying through Twitter. Twitter said it will change the way accounts were suspended henceforth.

Many Pakistani users had complained that Twitter had suspended or restricted their accounts when they expressed their support with the people of Indian occupied Kashmir.