Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Pakistan restores social media apps after temporary block on security grounds

Pakistan restores social media apps after temporary block on security grounds

PAKISTAN restored Facebook, Twitter and several other social media apps on Friday (16) after blocking them for about five hours on security grounds amid a crackdown against a violent Islamist group, officials said.

"In order to maintain public order and safety, access to certain social media applications has been restricted temporarily," a senior telecommunications authority official told Reuters earlier, without specifying which social media.


The home ministry said in a statement the block would last until 1500 local time (1000 GMT) and applied to YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Telegram and Tiktok.

Political parties frequently use social media to rally supporters, and the announcement came just before Friday prayers, which usually draw huge crowds to mosques where firebrand sermons have in the past catalysed protests.

"Access to social media applications has been restored," the telecom authority said in a later statement.

Pakistan said this week it had banned the Islamist group Tehrik-i-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) after the arrest of its leader sparked major nationwide protests, also fuelled by anti-France sentiment.

A second security source said that the block on social media was linked to maintaining public order as an operation was underway against the group.

"As the government announced earlier...wherever we need we will be blocking social media to crack down against Tehrik-i-Labaiak," he said, on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media.

At least four policemen have been killed in three days of violence, according to the country's information minister. Nearly 600 people have been wounded, with 200 in critical condition, he said.

TLP is demanding that the government expel the French ambassador and endorse a boycott of French products after the publication of cartoons in France depicting the Prophet Mohammad.

For Muslims, depictions of the Prophet are blasphemous.

Some rights activists criticised Friday's social media blackout, warning it could lead to more severe curbs on freedoms.

Impact on patients

The social media ban affected many Pakistanis already suffering from the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the northwestern city of Peshawar, Eqtedar Ahmad told AFP his work as a doctor at a private hospital had been disrupted.

"We use WhatsApp for routine business -- including sending lab reports to patients -- and this current suspension has affected us severely," he said.

Wamiq Haris, a 30-year-old who depends on social media to run his food delivery service in Karachi, the country's largest city and economic hub, said orders had plummeted.

Protests had been cleared from most cities by Friday, but in Lahore hundreds of TLP supporters continued a sit-in at a religious school -- and party headquarters -- despite the circulation of a handwritten plea from leader Saad Rizvi to leave the streets.

Anti-French sentiment has been festering for months in Pakistan since President Emmanuel Macron threw his support behind a satirical magazine's right to republish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

Francophobia erupted in autumn last year when the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo republished cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Extra security personnel have been deployed to the French embassy -- inside a guarded diplomatic enclave closed to the public -- and shipping containers were placed as fortifications around its outer wall.

More For You

'At least 242 aboard Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad'

People gather near the site where an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave

In this combo of images, a London-bound Air India plane crashes moments after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (PTI Photo)

'At least 242 aboard Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad'

AN Air India plane headed to London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India's western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday (12), the airline and police said, without specifying whether there were any fatalities.

The plane was headed to Gatwick airport in the UK, Air India said, while police officers said it crashed in a civilian area near the airport.

Keep ReadingShow less
David Cameron headlines CFoI event honouring UK-India ties

Lord David Cameron

David Cameron headlines CFoI event honouring UK-India ties

Mahesh Liloriya

Conservative Friends of India (CFoI) hosted its 2025 Summer Reception at St. James’ Court, A Taj Hotel, in an evening that celebrated enduring ties and a shared vision for the future. The event marked a significant moment for the organisation, with newly appointed co-chairs Koolesh Shah and The Rt Hon Sir Oliver Dowden CBE MP welcoming an esteemed gathering of political and community leaders.

The evening’s Special Guest of Honour was The Rt Hon Lord David Cameron, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who delivered a stirring and reflective keynote address. Also present was The Rt Hon Lord Dolar Popat, the esteemed Founder of CFoI, whose longstanding commitment to strengthening Indo-British relations was warmly recognised throughout the event.

Keep ReadingShow less
Proud moment for Sadiq Khan’s family as King knights London mayor

Sir Sadiq Khan

Proud moment for Sadiq Khan’s family as King knights London mayor

THE London mayor, Sadiq Khan (right), was knighted by King Charles at Buckingham Palace in the capital on Tuesday (10).

Sir Sadiq, who was re-elected for a historic third term in May 2024, went down on one knee during the traditional ceremony, as the King dubbed him with a sword. The mayor was recognised in the monarch’s New Year honours list for his political and public service.

Keep ReadingShow less
Anger as Kohli killers’ sentences
‘don’t reflect that they took a life’

Bhim Kohli

Anger as Kohli killers’ sentences ‘don’t reflect that they took a life’

COMMUNITY leaders and MPs have called for a review into what they said were “unduly lenient” sentences given to two teenagers convicted of killing 80-year-old Bhim Kohli.

The attorney-general has been asked to review the sentences handed down to a 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl – convicted of the manslaughter of Kohli in Franklin Park last September – given the racially aggravated nature of the crime.

Keep ReadingShow less
Eid-prayer-Getty

Muslims pray during Eid al-Adha at an open-air Eidgah in Hyderabad, Pakistan, on June 7, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Ahmadis stopped from offering Eid prayers in Pakistan

RELIGIOUS extremists in Pakistan stopped members of the Ahmadi community from offering Eid prayers in at least seven cities, the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan (JAP) said on Tuesday.

In Punjab, police arrested two Ahmadis and booked three others for trying to perform the ritual animal sacrifice during Eid-ul-Azha. According to JAP, members of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) also forced two Ahmadis to renounce their faith.

Keep ReadingShow less