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Pakistan Presses Social Platforms to Open Local Offices, Threatens Brazil-Style Penalties

Officials set tighter moderation terms under threat of fines plus temporary blocking.

Overview

  • At a Dec. 11 briefing in Islamabad, Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry and Law Minister Aqeel Malik renewed demands that major platforms comply with Pakistani law and establish in-country offices.
  • Officials said investigators identified 19 militant-linked X accounts operated from India and 28 from Afghanistan, alleging some support from elements within Kabul while noting no immediate responses from either government.
  • Islamabad called for AI-driven tools to automatically remove terrorist content and for access to registration and IP data to speed investigations.
  • Cooperation was described as uneven, with Telegram, WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook assisting while X was singled out as providing the weakest response.
  • The government cited Brazil’s enforcement model as a template and warned of fines, temporary blocks or international legal action if cooperation does not improve, alongside continued NCCIA prosecutions of online anti-state activity.