The withholding of Pakistan Government's Twitter account comes at a time when several similar instances have been reported in the past. Here is what it means when a Twitter account is withheld
Pakistan government’s Twitter account has been withheld in India as per the official display on the social media platform. In response to a legal demand, the Elon Musk-led platform has banned the Government of Pakistan Twitter account from being accessed in India.
If an Indian user were to search for Pakistan Government’s account on Twitter, a display message would pop up stating, “Account Withheld @GovtofPakistan 's account has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand. https://Learn more.”
While Twitter has not made an official announcement on withholding this account in India, as per media reports, this is not the first time that the social media platform has done this. Even before, Twitter banned Government of Pakistan’s account in India in July and October 2022.
Let’s understand what withholding a Twitter account means.
Pakistan Government’s Twitter Account Withheld – Explained
According to Twitter’s Help Center, the decision to withhold a Twitter account is usually made after taking into account the local laws. In some cases, these laws may apply either to specific tweets or the whole Twitter account content. “With hundreds of millions of Tweets posted every day around the world, our goal is to respect user expression, while also taking into consideration applicable local laws. Many countries, including the United States, have laws that may apply to Tweets and/or Twitter account content,” reads the official page.
Hence, even the banning of Government of Pakistan’s Twitter account has been done taking the above-mentioned things into consideration. The information on Twitter’s Help Center also suggests that in cases when the social media company receives a ‘valid and properly scoped request from an authorized entity,’ even then it withholds access. It adds, “Such withholdings will be limited to the specific jurisdiction that has issued the valid legal demand or where the content has been found to violate local law(s).”
Since the entire process involves checks and balances, Twitter also clarifies that once the account is withheld in an area, even the affected users are informed, unless specifically asked not to. The official statement on this reads, “Upon receipt of requests to withhold content, we will promptly notify affected users unless we are prohibited from doing so (e.g., if we receive a court order under seal). When content has been withheld, we also clearly indicate within the product and publish requests to withhold content on Lumen—unless, similar to our practice of notifying users, we are prohibited from doing so.”
Government of Pakistan’s Twitter account being withheld in India comes at a time when several such incidents have been reported in the past as well.