Pakistan’s Punjab to ban social media platforms for 6 days during Muharram to control ‘hate material’

After blocking X, formerly Twitter, for over four months, the government in Pakistan’s Punjab province is now set to ban all social media platforms — YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok — for six days between July 13 and 18, citing the need to control “hate material” during the Islamic month of Muharram.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s cabinet committee on law and order has recommended banning of all social media platforms — YouTube, X, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, among others — during 6th to 11th day of Muharram (July 13-18) in Punjab, a province of over 120 million people, to “control hate material, misinformation to avoid sectarian violence”, according to a notification issued here late Thursday night.