 "Afridi’s Instagram, X handles blocked in India over anti-Indian Army remarks; Babar, Akram’s accounts also suspended")
The crackdown on social media accounts of Pakistani sportspersons continues as access to the Instagram and X handles of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shahid Afridi, Wasim Akram, among others, has been blocked in India in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack.
While the Indian government had already acted against the YouTube channels of popular Pakistan cricketers, the Instagram and X handles had still been accessible. Shoaib Akhtar and Basit Ali were among the first former Pakistan cricketers to get their YouTube channels blocked in India .
Shahid Afridi, who has been in the news recently for his anti-Indian Army comments, had his YouTube channel blocked on Wednesday . The same day, Paris Olympics gold medallist Arshad Nadeem’s Instagram handle was also suspended.
India takes social media action against Afridi and Co
On Friday, the Instagram and X accounts of the most popular Pakistani cricket figures were blocked in India. Apart from the names mentioned above, Instagram and X accounts of cricketers Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan and Shoaib Akhtar have also been blocked.
Shan Masood and Naseem Shah’s accounts are still accessible on X but not on Instagram.
“Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content,” a message appears while accessing these accounts. “We received a legal request to restrict this content. We reviewed it against our policies and conducted a legal and human rights assessment. After the review, we restricted access to the content in the location where it goes against local law.”
Cricket calendar to take a hit as India-Pakistan ties worsen
The dastardly terrorist attack in the Phalagam region of Jammu and Kashmir resulted in the loss of 26 lives. The relationship between India and Pakistan has worsened ever since and there are reports that it could spill into the cricketing world and future tournaments.
Some of the comments from former Pakistan cricketers have also led to the situation getting more tense. Former all-rounder Afridi had been at the forefront of criticising India and the Army. He called the Indian Army "useless" and accused them of failing to protect their citizens.
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