Instagram Accounts Of Several More Pakistani Actors Banned

NEW DELHI: In the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, India has further restricted access to several high-profile Pakistani figures on social media. On Sunday, Instagram accounts belonging to actors Fawad Khan, Atif Aslam, Mawra Hocane and singer Abida Parveen became unavailable to Indian users, displaying the notice: “Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.”

This move expands upon earlier action by the Centre, which on May 2 blocked the YouTube channel of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as well as 16 Pakistani news outlets—including Dawn News, Samaa TV, Ary News and Geo News—for allegedly disseminating provocative and misleading narratives against India and its security forces.

The government has also formally censured the BBC for its coverage of the Pahalgam incident.
Last week, the government suspended the ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) account of Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. In addition, Instagram pages of actors Mahira Khan, Hania Aamir, Sanam Saeed, Ali Zafar, Bilal Abbas, Iqra Aziz, Ayeza Khan, Imran Abbas and Sajal Aly were blocked. The release of the film Abir Gulaal, starring Fawad Khan, now hangs in the balance, and Olympic javelin medallist Arshad Nadeem also found his Instagram account restricted under the same legal directive.

Authorities say these measures are necessary to curb what they describe as cross-border propaganda and misinformation in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, in which 26 civilians were killed.