Gilgit-Baltistan, July 10: In a surprising move, Twitter has reportedly blocked Pakistan’s official Twitter account in Gilgit-Baltistan and is displaying the region’s location as the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, according to Dawn, a Pakistani English-language newspaper.
Despite users enabling the location feature on the app, tweets sent from Gilgit-Baltistan are being marked as originating from Jammu and Kashmir. Local residents have explicitly shown changes in their Twitter location and have reported being unable to access the government’s official account from the region.
When attempting to access the account, users received a message stating that the “account has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand.” Pakistani officials have denied these changes, dismissing the claims as baseless, despite numerous reports suggesting otherwise. They have also emphasized that there are no restrictions on internet freedom, media, or expression in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Pakistan’s government account has been banned in India since March 2023 and was previously withheld twice in 2022 due to legal complaints. Twitter users from Gilgit-Baltistan have expressed their concerns on social media, with Yasir Hussain, a resident of the Rahimabad area of Gilgit, tweeting about his inability to see tweets from various accounts he follows, including the government’s account.
Several users have noticed that when they attempt to add their location to tweets, the app locates them in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir instead of Gilgit-Baltistan. They believe that the Pakistani officials should address this matter seriously, suggesting that India may have influenced Twitter to alter the geotagging of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Another user, Karim Shah Nizari, also reported being unable to add Pakistan’s location to his tweets, with the only option presented being Jammu and Kashmir. He mentioned that the Twitter algorithm was displaying tweets from India on his feed, despite being based in the Yasin Valley of Ghizer district.
The Gilgit-Baltistan government has urged individuals to refrain from spreading fake news and has called out Twitter for disrespecting the region’s status, considering it an attack on its identity.
