View from Dawn: Pakistan must stop treating its own citizens as the enemy

Pakistan is under grave threat from its own citizens, or so the interior ministry would have us believe. According to a recent statement made before the Sindh High Court on behalf of the ministry, the government feels it necessary to keep the ban on X in place because it considers the social media platform a “threat to peace and national security”.

The statement reads: “hostile elements operating on X have nefarious intentions to create an environment of chaos and instability, with the ultimate goal of destabilising the country and plunging it into some form of anarchy”. For anyone aware of Pakistan’s sociopolitical context, it is not difficult to guess who is being described as “hostile elements”. There are many disgruntled and disillusioned citizens who have taken to using the platform to vent their frustrations against state institutions that clearly appear unnerved by the unchecked criticism and would like to see them silenced.

The ban on X, the interior ministry says, does not curtail freedom of expression or restrict access to information. In fact, “it is a measure aimed at ensuring responsible use of social media platforms”. But how does completely blocking access to a global platform encourage responsible use of social media? And how does silencing...

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