Afghan social media campaign calls for sanctions on Pak over Taliban offensive
Aug 12, 2021
Kabul [Afghanistan], August 12 : A massive social media campaign in Afghanistan is demanding sanctions on Pakistan as people believe that Islamabad is behind the Taliban's destructive offensive in the country.
Over the past four days, Afghan social media users have tweeted thousands of posts on Twitter and on other platforms using the hashtag #sanctiononpakistan, intending to draw the international community's attention to accusations of Pakistani support for the Taliban, which Pakistani officials deny, TOLO News reported.
Social media experts believe that the hashtag "sanctiononpakistan" was the top Twitter trend in Afghanistan for the past four days and was the second most popular trend in Pakistan. Social media users from European countries and elsewhere also joined the campaign.
"These hashtags are shared by the people, not bots," said Fahim Ahmad Yousuzad, an IT expert, referring to automated social media accounts that can produce the illusion of a groundswell of broad public support for a particular message, TOLO News added.
Scores of people on social media, including many in Afghanistan began a massive anti-Pakistan campaign to protest against their meddling in the war-torn country.
"For the third day in a row, #SanctionPakistan is a top trend on all social media platforms. Afghans are speaking loudly and clearly. Listen world, listen," said Habib Khan, a prominent Afghan journalist.
Hashtags that are trending include "SanctionPakistan", "Stop Proxy War", and "Stop Supporting" terrorist group.
Former Canadian minister Chris Alexander also said these hashtags reflect the determination of Afghans to live in peace.
"#SanctionPakistan isn't just a hashtag trending on Twitter. It reflects the determination of Afghans, Pakistanis & citizens of many other states to live in peace -- free from invasion, proxy war & terrorism," former Canadian minister Chris Alexander tweeted.
The hashtags against Pakistan have been used by social media users for over 70,000 on Facebook and Twitter. Several Afghan politicians and famous figures have joined this campaign.
