Pak to ban social media platforms for 6 days to control hate during Ramadan

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

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 6 to 11 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 Punjab government notification issued here late Thursday night.