Twitter has blocked the official account of the Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) for viewing in India based on a legal request. It's not clear when the account was withheld, but Reuters reported the issue on March 30. The account continues to be withheld as of today. The account is viewable for users outside India and Indian users who use a Virtual Private Network (VPN). [caption id="attachment_181858" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Source: Screenshot from Twitter[/caption] Why has the account been blocked: The account "has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand," the notice on Twitter reads. This could either be a court order, or an order from the Indian government issued using the powers available under Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000. If it is the latter, which is most likely the case, then we might never find out the reason why the account was withheld because Section 69A orders are confidential. One hypothesis is that the blocking could be in relation to the internet censorship in Punjab, which has been imposed on various levels as part of the crackdown on Amritpal Singh, a self-proclaimed Sikh preacher who is on the run from the Indian police. Why does this matter: The blocking of an official account of a foreign nation takes censorship to new levels. The fact that we will probably never know why the Indian government took such a measure adds to the lack of transparency on how the government decides what Indian users get to see or not. This move…
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