ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson, Dr. Muhammad Faisal's personal Twitter account was restored on Wednesday after a brief suspension based on a complaint lodged by India a day earlier.
New Delhi had taken umbrage to the fact that Dr. Faisal was posting live updates from an International Court of Justice's (ICJ) hearing of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case on Tuesday.
The ICJ is hearing the case of the alleged Indian RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) agent, who was convicted of espionage by a Pakistani military court and sentenced to death in April 2017.
The spokesperson had also posted links to stories highlighting the atrocities in Indian-administered Kashmir.
“The snow in IOK bleeds red. Pakistan strongly condemns the continuing Indian state terrorism & martyrdom of 5 innocent Kashmiri boys by Indian occupation forces in the inhuman so-called CASO in Kulgam today #Kashmirbleeds,” he had tweeted.
“India continues its senseless Kashmiri massacre & flouting of all norms of justice years after hanging and secret burial of #AfzalGuru & #MaqboolButt #Kashmirbleeds,” the spokesperson tweeted.
His tweets regarding Kulbhushan Jadhav’s hearing at the ICJ have apparently been deleted before restoration of his account.
Ties between Pakistan and India have deteriorated after a suicide bomber attacked a paramilitary force’s convoy in Pulwama district of Indian administered Kashmir last week, killing more than 40 soldiers. India has accused Pakistan of involvement in the attack. Islamabad has denied all the allegations.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday -- in a televised address to the nation -- defended Pakistan and threatened to retaliate if India attacked. “If you have any actionable intelligence that a Pakistani is involved, give it to us. I guarantee you that we will take action,” Khan said while urging India to engage in dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues, including terrorism.
Following the Pulwama attack, people from both the countries took to social media, including Twitter, to blame each other’s governments for their involvement in cross-border terrorism.
Digital rights activists have demanded for Twitter to ensure transparency in its operations and the suspension of accounts following specific complaints from its users or any government authority.
Nighat Dad, director of the Digital Rights Foundation, termed the suspension of Dr, Faisal’s Twitter account as “unfortunate and the result of India’s hyper-nationalism” on the micro-blogging website.
“Twitter must clarify its position as to why it has suspended the account of a chief spokesperson of Pakistan’s foreign office,” she told Arab News, adding that “there must be a protocol and procedure for suspension of anybody’s account”.
Referring to Twitter’s public policy of suspending accounts on the basis of hate speech and extremism, she said that the spokesperson's posts didn't “fall in the domain of hate speech by any definition.”
Sadaf Khan, digital rights activist and director at Media Matters for Democracy, said that Twitter suspends an account for review if it is flagged and reported by a “massive number”.
“The arbitrary suspension of any account violates the basic concept of freedom of speech and expression,” she told Arab News, adding that “Twitter must ensure an equal playing field for all its users by discouraging monopoly of any group or nation on its platform.”
