Lahore:  The Pakistan government’s ban on social media platform X has completed one year this month, with authorities showing no signs of reversing the decision despite growing criticism.

“The Shehbaz Sharif government has no plans to lift the ban in the near future because of rising criticism of his government and the military on social media,” a senior leader of the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) told PTI on Thursday.

The PML-N leader from Punjab, who doesn’t want to be named, said the ban on X would remain in place until the government finds a way to counter the online criticism led by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which has been targeting key figures, including the army chief, on social media.

X was blocked in Pakistan in the third week of February 2024, shortly after the general elections held on February 8. Though the social media platform was banned on February 17, it was not until a month later that the government officially acknowledged the ban.

The decision to ban X came after former Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Chattha made allegations of massive poll rigging involving then Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and then Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa at the behest of the military establishment.

Following these allegations, X became the epicentre of intense debate, with its 4.5 million Pakistani users voicing concerns that the establishment had manipulated election results to install a puppet government led by Shehbaz Sharif, a so-called hybrid governance system favouring military interests.

Reports on the social media suggested that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) initially secured only six per cent of parliamentary seats, but result tampering allegedly helped the party attain a single majority in the lower house.

Legal challenges against the ban were taken to various high courts, but none ordered its removal. The federal government defended its decision, citing national security concerns and asserting that the move was “legitimate”.

The Information Ministry stated that X had failed to respond adequately to requests from Pakistani authorities to block accounts allegedly involved in a defamatory campaign against the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the army chief.

A coalition of civil society organisations, rights advocates, journalists, and individuals has demanded the immediate restoration of X. They have also called for greater transparency from regulatory authorities and urged the government to refrain from imposing such arbitrary restrictions in the future.

As if ban on X was not enough, the military-backed government has further tightened control over online discourse through amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016. The new amendments introduce severe punishments under vague definitions of “fake news,” raising fears of widespread suppression of dissent.

The Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2023 was introduced in the Senate on July 24, 2023. The National Assembly passed the amendment bill on January 23, 2025.

All major journalist bodies in Pakistan have strongly opposed the law, staging protests against what they see as an attempt to stifle free speech.