Tag: X

  • Ushna Shah loves Sharmin Segal’s performance in ‘Heeramandi’

    Ushna Shah loves Sharmin Segal’s performance in ‘Heeramandi’

    Actress Ushna Shah has come to the defense of Sharmin Segal, who faced criticism for her acting in the web series ‘Heeramandi’. Shah posted a tweet on X (formerly Twitter) writing, “Sharmin Segal underplayed Alamzeb but only slightly, which seems to be difficult to digest for an audience used to be a more dramatic style. The character would have been butchered had she over-played it, it would have become generic.”

    “She mastered the Urdu dialect better than most Hindi speaking actors & the grain in her voice was spectacular,” Shah added.
    Looking at British actor Jason Shah’s performance, who played Alastair Cartwright in the series, Ushna wrote, “The real tragedy is Cartwright not having an English accent; he was playing a British coloniser! Forget Received Pronunciation, he didn’t even bother forging a modern Brit accent? Even the English speaking Nawaabs should have had a trans-Atlantic-ish speak, similar to Jinnah, Gandhi, Nehru etc.” She added the hashtags ‘Heeramandi’ and ‘Sharmin Segal’.
    Sharmin Segal is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s niece.

    The web series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, which co-stars Segal alongside Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, and Sanjeeda Sheikh in major roles, as well as Farida Jalal, Fardeen Khan, Shekhar and Adhyayan Suman, and Taha Shah, is available on Netflix.

  • Govt determined to ban X, a threat to ‘national security’

    Govt determined to ban X, a threat to ‘national security’

    The federal Interior Ministry has categorically stated that X (formerly Twitter) cannot be restored due to “national security” reasons, keeping it suspended indefinitely.

    The ministry said in a written response submitted to the Sindh High Court that there was content on the social media platform that targeted national institutions, which undermined the national security of Pakistan.

    It has also doubled down in its defence of banning the social media platform saying, “The job of the Ministry of Interior is to protect the rights of the people of Pakistan.”

    According to the ministry, the ban on X does not violate Article 19 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and expression.

  • X working with Pakistan govt to ‘understand concerns’ over ban

    X working with Pakistan govt to ‘understand concerns’ over ban

    Islamabad, Pakistan – Social media platform X said Thursday it would work with Pakistan’s government “to understand its concerns” after authorities insisted an ongoing two-month ban was based on security grounds.

    The platform, formerly known as Twitter, has been rarely accessible since February 17, when jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party called for protests following a government official’s admission of vote manipulation in the February election.

    “We continue to work with the Pakistani Government to understand their concerns,” X’s Global Government Affairs team posted, in their first comments since the site was disrupted.

    The Interior Ministry on Wednesday said X was blocked on security grounds, according to a report submitted to the Islamabad High Court where one of several challenges to the ban is being heard.

    On the same day, the Sindh High Court ordered the government to restore access to social media platform X within a week.

    “The Sindh High Court has given the government one week to withdraw the letter, failing which, on the next date, they will pass appropriate orders,” Moiz Jaaferi, a lawyer challenging the ban, told AFP.

    The court’s full decision is expected to be published this week.

    Both the government and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had for weeks refused to comment on the outages.

    “It is the sole prerogative and domain of the federal government to decide what falls within the preview of terms of ‘defence’ or ‘security’ of Pakistan and what steps are necessary to be taken to safeguard National Security,” said the interior ministry’s report, submitted by senior official Khurram Agha.

    The interior ministry suggested intelligence agencies were behind the order.

    The closure of a social media service “when there is request from any security or intelligence agency” is “well within the scope of provisions of the PTA act”, the report said.

    Digital rights activists, however, said it was designed to quash dissent after February 8 polls that were fraught with claims of rigging.

    Access to X has been sporadic, occasionally available for short cycles based on the internet service provider, forcing users to use virtual private networks.

    Mobile services were cut across Pakistan on election day, with the interior ministry also citing security reasons.

    It was followed by a long delay in issuing voting results, giving rise to allegations of tampering.

    Khan’s opposition party had already faced heavy censorship in the weeks before the election, banned from television channels and from holding rallies, forcing its campaign online.

    Despite the crackdown, his party won the most seats but was kept from power by a coalition of rival parties that had the backing of the military.

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    © Agence France-Presse

  • Interior Ministry ordered banning of Twitter in Pakistan

    Interior Ministry ordered banning of Twitter in Pakistan

    The Ministry of Interior, headed by Mohsin Naqvi, has accepted that it directed Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to ban X, formerly Twitter. The Ministry revealed this information in a reply to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), after the court had asked why the social media platform had been shutdown.

    In its reply to the IHC, the Ministry quoted the controversial 2021 social media rules stating that Twitter had not registered itself in Pakistan nor signed any MoU with the government of Pakistan.

    The reply to IHC said, “As a foreign entity operating in Pakistan, Twitter/X is subject to the regulatory framework of the country, including the compliance with legal directives issued by the Government of Pakistan.”

    It further said, “The ban on Twitter/X serves as a necessary step to address this regulatory vacuum and compel the platform to respect the sovereignty and legal jurisdiction of Pakistan.”

    The Ministry’s reply also said that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has forwarded numerous requests to Twitter/X through PTA to block those accounts involved in a defamatory campaign against CJP Qazi Faez Isa and criticized the lack of cooperation from Twitter/X.

    It also mentioned that TikTok was also banned for a while by Pakistan, after which the company signed an MoU to abide by local laws, address content moderation issues, and enhance cooperation with Pak authorities.

    Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court (SHC) also directed the Ministry of Interior to revoke its letter regarding the suspension of X within one week.

    “What are you [interior ministry] achieving via shutting down trivial things […] The world must laugh at us,” said SHC Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi.

    As of now, X/Twitter has been inaccessible in Pakistan for the last two months.

  • X blocks India election posts after takedown orders

    X blocks India election posts after takedown orders

    Social media platform X has blocked several posts in India containing political speech after authorities ordered their takedown ahead of a six-week general election that starts Friday.

    X, owned by Tesla boss Elon Musk and formerly known as Twitter, said the posts would be withheld from Indian audiences until the election was over despite its disagreement with the order.

    “In compliance with the orders, we have withheld these posts for the remainder of the election period,” X said in a statement posted to the platform late Tuesday.

    “However, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts and political speech in general.”

    The posts by elected politicians, political parties and candidates made unverified claims about the private lives of their opponents, which India’s election commission said violated its code of conduct.

    The platform’s announcement of its compliance with the order came the same day X’s Brazilian office said it would abide by a court direction to block disinformation-spreading users in that country.

    Musk had earlier threated to disregard the Brazilian court’s order.

    The billionaire is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India this month to discuss major investment plans in the country.

    India, the world’s biggest democracy, regularly ranks among the top five countries globally for number of requests made by a government to remove social media content.

    Last year, an Indian court hit X with a $61,000 fine after the platform unsuccessfully challenged orders to remove tweets and accounts critical of Modi’s government.

    Rights groups say freedom of expression is under threat in India, which has fallen 21 spots to 161 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index since Modi took office in 2014.

    Indian authorities have regularly imposed blanket internet shutdowns during periods of unrest.

    That includes a months-long outage in the northeastern state of Manipur last year in the wake of ethnic violence.

    The government says internet cuts curb disinformation by stemming rumours from spreading on social media or mobile messaging applications.

    A total of 968 million people are eligible to cast a ballot in the election, with the final round of voting on June 1 and counting three days later.

  • X gives free blue check to big follower accounts

    X gives free blue check to big follower accounts

    Users with big followings will receive a free subscription to X, formerly Twitter – and the platform’s famous blue check, the company said in another policy U-turn.

    Before Musk, the blue check mark was used as a verification system for major accounts including celebrities, institutions and journalists.

    But Musk saw the system as unfair to regular users and overhauled the blue checks so that they went only to paying subscribers, which meant thousands of holders were stripped of the feature.

    Late Wednesday, some users were surprised and even angry to find the blue tick reinstated.

    A message from the platform explained that they were given free subscriptions because they were an “influential member” of X.

    The site added that it “reserves the right to cancel the complimentary subscription in its sole discretion.”

    Musk said last week that “going forward, all X accounts with over 2,500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free and accounts with over 5,000 will get Premium+ for free.”

    Premium or Premium+ perks include reduced ads and higher placement in the platform’s feeds, as well as access to Grok, X’s AI chatbot.

    Some users who received the blue check saw it as a bid by Musk to revitalize the struggling platform.

    “Translation: Pay $8? Kidding. Help me. But don’t say anything too free speechy about me or my Garbage Tower of Babel,” actor Jeffrey Wright, who received an unsolicited check, said in a post on X.

    Since Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, the platform’s advertising business has collapsed as marketers soured on his leadership and the mass firings at the company that gutted content moderation.

    X on Tuesday named company veteran Kylie McRoberts as the new head of safety in an effort to shore up income from advertising, still the site’s main source of revenue.

    According to most industry-accepted metrics, X has lost users since Musk took ownership, but the company says activity on the site has grown.

  • Government says X is a national security threat

    Government says X is a national security threat

    The Federal Interior Ministry’s joint secretary told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that “content uploaded on the internet” is a “threat” to Pakistan’s national security.

    Journalist Ehtesham Abbasi had filed a petition in IHC against the closure of X, formerly Twitter.

    X has been inaccessible in the country since February 17 and millions of users have been deprived of their basic rights.

    Justice Aamer Farooq heard the plea and asked the interior ministry about any written communication of the closure. “What is this method? What is this attitude? Assist the court,” said the IHC CJ, adding that everything is “closed and jammed”.

    The court expressed reservations that if the matter is as serious as national security then it should have been given in official writing. “Show us the documents. There will be no verbal conversation,” asserted Justice Farooq.

    “You closed X on the Intelligence Bureau’s (IB) report. There are no reasons written in it, only a report based on speculation,” he added.

  • Who Banned X (former Twitter) in Pakistan? We finally have an answer

    Who Banned X (former Twitter) in Pakistan? We finally have an answer

    Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) disclosed to the Sindh High Court (SHC) that the nationwide ban on the social media platform X, implemented on February 17, was executed upon directives from the Ministry of Interior, citing intelligence agency reports.

    Since February 17, the X website and application have remained predominantly offline, with sporadic service restorations, primarily occurring following statements made by former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatta alleging election irregularities.

    PTA Chairman Hafeezur Rehman announced his intention to address the disruption of X with the interior ministry during a telephonic conversation with Dawn.com.

    Rehman emphasized the need for clarity or accountability regarding the platform’s closure, highlighting that such actions are typically directed by the Interior Ministry.

    During a hearing, a two-member SHC bench, comprising Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmad Abbasi and Justice Abdul Mubeen Lakho, consolidated four petitions filed by lawyer Jibran Nasir, journalist Zarrar Khurho, and others concerning internet disruptions at various instances.

    In court, the PTA presented a copy of a letter dated February 17 from the Ministry of Interior instructing the telecommunication authority to block social media platform X.

    The letter sent by Muhammad Hashim Shah, section officer FIA, to The Chairman PTA stated, “It is, therefore, social media platform i.e. X (formerly Twitter) may be blocked immediately till further orders.”

    The PTA further revealed that these orders stemmed from intelligence agency reports.

    Expressing dissatisfaction over the interior ministry’s failure to provide a written response, Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmad Abbasi urged Deputy Attorney General Khaleeq Ahmed to submit a “serious response,” prompting the latter to later present a written reply on behalf of the interior ministry. The response stated that services were disrupted on May 9, following orders from all provincial governments, citing concerns for state and citizen security. However, it refrained from commenting on other aspects of the case.

    Following the inclusion of the ministry’s response in the case record, the bench adjourned the hearing until April 17, awaiting further proceedings.

  • Mohsin Naqvi seeks to review social media laws amid nationwide X disruption

    Mohsin Naqvi seeks to review social media laws amid nationwide X disruption

    Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has sought a review of social media laws to prevent misuse, as the popular social networking platform X has been disrupted nationwide for over a month.

    X, formerly Twitter, is not accessible to millions of Pakistani citizens without a VPN, getting suspended before the February 8 general elections.

    “Social media laws should be envisaged,” Naqvi said while speaking to journalists in Lahore on Tuesday, adding that “social media is being misused. Social media regulations have been implemented across the globe.”

    Mohsin Naqvi also said that it is necessary to maintain a difference between freedom of expression and spreading propaganda. “Everyone has the right to freedom of speech; however, it should not be misused.”

    The interior minister also said smear campaigns against politicians, the judiciary, and other national institutions should be stopped, further adding that there should be the implementation of social media laws in the country.

  • Information Minister admits X still restricted in Pakistan

    Information Minister admits X still restricted in Pakistan

    Following earlier assertions that social media giant X, formerly known as Twitter, was accessible to online users, Information Minister Atta Tarar has now conceded that the popular social networking app remains suspended in the country.

    During an interview with a local news channel on Monday, Tarar acknowledged, “Twitter was already banned when we assumed power, and there is no official notification regarding its status.” Emphasising the necessity for a charter delineating “do’s and don’ts,” the information minister advocated for discussions among political parties to establish “red lines” that should not be crossed on the platform.

    Expressing his dismay over allegations against women, abuses, misconduct, and smear campaigns targeting the sacrifices of martyrs on social media, Tarar highlighted the need for accountability.

    It is noteworthy that Tarar dismissed inquiries about X’s suspension in Pakistan on March 13, stating, “Twitter [X] is operational. Tweets continue to be posted on Twitter as well. If there is an official notification mandating its closure, then it should be presented for discussion.”

    The continued unavailability of X, a vital source of information, to millions of users in Pakistan for over a month now, since its suspension preceding the February 8 general election, raises concerns. Despite various court orders urging the restoration of uninterrupted access, users have faced sporadic disruptions and obstacles.

    Furthermore, on March 13, human rights activists and civil society organisations issued a joint statement expressing deep concern over the escalating instances of internet shutdowns and social media platform blocks, advocating for the immediate reinstatement of X.