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Why Social Media Accounts Of Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar Got Unblocked In India?

Anurag Dasgupta

Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar social media account [Source: @atul_agrawal56/x.com] Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar social media account [Source: @atul_agrawal56/x.com]

In a bizarre move, several former Pakistani cricketers had their social media accounts accessible to Indian users on Wednesday. After the Pahalgam Attack and Operation Sindoor, the Indian government decided to ban the social media accounts of Pakistan cricketers and other social media influencers.

The account was available only for a short period as they got blocked again. Netizens slammed the decision to unblock their account and flooded the timeline with #BanPakistanContent, urging the authorities to impose the ban.

Why were the social accounts unblocked?

As per a report by NDTV, the temporary visibility was due to a technical glitch, however, no proper explanation was given as to why the accounts were re-blocked. Many Pakistan Cricketers, including Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi, had their accounts unblocked and their was a visible difference in their view counts.

Before getting banned in India, the YouTube Channels of Shahid Afridi and Akhtar used to get views in lakhs but ever-since they got blocked, the view count droppe drastically. Before the Ban, These channels used to fetch views in lakhs and after ban they even struggle to get past 10-20 thousand.

Earlier in May, the government directed all Over-the-Top, or OTT platforms, media streaming services and digital intermediaries to discontinue web series, films, songs, podcasts and other media content originating from Pakistan.

AIWCA Seeks permission from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into matter

After several Pakistani accounts were made visible, the All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) made an urgent appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding a complete ban on social media content, stating that it is an injustice to those who sacrificed their lives for the nation.

"It is an insult to the sacrifice of our martyred soldiers and an emotional assault on every Indian who lost a loved one in terror attacks perpetrated by Pakistan."

However, there has been no official confirmation as to why such a event occurred during this sensitive time.