Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif Allegedly Breached Law To Wish US President Elect Donald Trump, Here's What Happened

Community post on Pakistani PM's post read, "Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has banned X in Pakistan. He is using a VPN to access X, which is unlawful according to the Pakistani law."

Earlier this year, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar declared a ban on the social media platform X, citing concerns over national security.

Source : PTI, X

US Republican candidate Donald Trump recently won the US Presidential Elections 2024 and wishes came pouring in. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, also wished Trump on a decisive victory. The thing to be noted here was that Sharif wished Trump on X whereas X has been banned in Pakistan. This means that the Pakistani PM must have used VPN to access X to post this congratulatory message. 

The community notes on Sharif's post also noted this. A community post on the topic read, "Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has banned X (formerly Twitter) in Pakistan. He is using a VPN to access X, which is unlawful according to the Pakistani law." Sharif's original tweet read, "Congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump on his historic victory for a second term! I look forward to working closely with the incoming Administration to further strengthen and broaden the Pakistan-U.S. partnership."

Congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump on his historic victory for a second term! I look forward to working closely with the incoming Administration to further strengthen and broaden the Pakistan-U.S. partnership. @realDonaldTrump

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) November 6, 2024

Pakistan's Ban On X

Earlier this year, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar declared a ban on the social media platform X, citing concerns over national security. Tarar stated that members of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) were allegedly using the platform to promote anti-national activities.

Despite the continued ban, a post by Prime Minister Sharif on X has sparked criticism from the online community.

A user while reacting to Sharif's post wrote, "If hypocrisy had a human face, it would be Shehbaz Sharif."

Another user wrote, "Mr. Trump, this joker using VPN to congratulate you... Btw, Elon Musk plate form has been banned in Pakistan !!!"

A third user wrote, "The government has imposed a ban on Twitter in Pakistan, with reports suggesting that even ministers are accessing the platform using VPNs, which is quite an irony for a government that's restricting public access while using the same tools to bypass their own rules."

The government has imposed a ban on Twitter in Pakistan, with reports suggesting that even ministers are accessing the platform using VPNs, which is quite an irony for a government that's restricting public access while using the same tools to bypass their own rules. pic.twitter.com/pWuBLktUaZ

— Chulbuli 👑 (@farahdurranii) November 6, 2024