Follow UsThe Indian government, after having already banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels in India, including those of famous former Pakistan cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi, made the Instagram handles of current Pakistan cricketers, including Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, inaccessible in the country on May 2.
The decision comes in the wake of steps taken by the Indian government after the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 Indians lost their lives when terrorists opened fire at tourists enjoying fun activities in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Cricketers apart from Babar and Rizwan from the neighbouring country whose Instagram handles have been blocked in India are- Wasim Akram, Shan Masood, Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah, Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan.
Akhtar and Afridi have made this list too and so has former Prime Minister and cricket captain Imran Khan, who is currently imprisoned in Pakistan.
Instagram, on its part, has written, “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,” on the handles of the above-mentioned cricketers.
Earlier, at the request of the Indian government, 16 YouTube channels and Pakistan’s first individual Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem’s Instagram handle were banned in India.