'Digital crackdown': India blocks Pakistani celebrities on social media

Amid digital crackdown, India has blocked access to the social media accounts of dozens of Pakistani actors, athletes and other celebrities, besides suspending trade and exchange of all categories of mail and parcels from the neighbouring country through air and surface routes.

India blames Pakistan of backing the attack on civilians in Pahalgam, a popular destination in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), on April 22, in which 26 people, including tourists were killed, — an allegation Islamabad has strongly denied as baseless.

On social media, India banned dozens of Pakistani YouTube channels, including Pakistani news outlets.

On Saturday, further restrictions blocked access in India to the Instagram account of Pakistan's ex-prime minister and cricket captain Imran Khan.

Bollywood movie regulars Fawad Khan and Atif Aslam were also off limits, as well as a wide range of cricketers — including star batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan and retired players Shahid Afridi and Wasim Akram.

Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem's Instagram account was also no longer accessible to Indian users, reflecting the broad scope of the clampdown beyond just cricket.

The Instagram accounts of several prominent Pakistani celebrities, including Hania Aamir, Mahira Khan, Ali Zafar, and Sanam Saeed, have been blocked from view in India.

Among the other Pakistani actors whose accounts are no longer visible in India are Bilal Abbas, Iqra Aziz, Imran Abbas and Sajal Aly.  

Users in India attempting to access these accounts are shown a message indicating that they are unavailable due to compliance with a legal request.

A day earlier, Pakistan's military said it carried out a "training launch" of a surface-to-surface missile weapons system on Saturday, further heightening tensions.

The arch-rivals had already expelled each other's citizens and closed the main border crossing, and barred aircraft from each other's airspace.

— With additional input from AFP