Balochistan Times

Social media platform @instagram has suspended Balochistan Times’ main account, citing unspecified violations of its community guidelines. The suspension took place on Monday and appears to follow a complaint from Pakistan’s Telecommunication Authority (PTA). Our suspicion is based on a separate notice received on Tuesday from @X, informing us that the PTA had filed a complaint regarding our reporting on this platform. The timing suggests a coordinated effort to silence our reporting. The PTA has a record of acting under pressure from Pakistan’s security establishment to suppress dissenting voices, particularly those critical of enforced disappearances carried out by the military and intelligence services. We have appealed the decision and urge Instagram to restore the account. Since our founding by Sajid Hussain and a group of volunteers a decade ago, Balochistan Times has reported consistently on human rights violations in the region. We have built a following of nearly 30,000 people on Instagram. Sajid Hussain, a respected journalist who covered Balochistan with integrity and dedication, went missing in Sweden in March 2020. His body was later found in a river in Uppsala. His case was covered by international outlets including The New York Times, the CNN, the BBC and The Guardian. The suspension of our account (balochistantimes) raises serious questions about platform accountability, especially in contexts where press freedom is already under sustained threat. We believe our reporting complies with Instagram’s community guidelines, and we strive to uphold journalistic standards. Our work aims to amplify the voices of the Baloch people whose stories, particularly cases of enforced disappearance, are mostly ignored by Pakistan's mainstream media. We call on Instagram to reinstate our account immediately. We also appeal to press freedom organisations, digital rights groups and fellow journalists to stand with us in defending independent journalism.