Instagram accounts of Babar Azam, Rizwan and many other Pakistani cricketers blocked in India

Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam along with Mohammad Rizwan.
| Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak

India on Friday (May 2, 2025) blocked Instagram accounts of leading current and former Pakistani cricketers including Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Wasim Akram, intensifying its digital crackdown on influential personalities across the border in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

The list of restricted accounts also includes Test captain Shan Masood, pacers Hasan Ali and Naseem Shah, batter Imam-ul-Haq, all rounder Shadab Khan and former stars Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi.

Additionally, the account of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister and cricket captain Imran Khan is also now inaccessible in India.

Users attempting to access their Instagram page from India are met with the message: “Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.”

“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,” added the note from Instagram.

However, the accounts of World Cup-winning captain Waqar Younis and former skipper Misbah-ul-Haq have not been withheld yet.

Pakistan’s Olympic gold-winning javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem’s Instagram account was blocked on Wednesday.

These restrictions come in the wake of the April 22 terror attack near the popular tourist destination of Pahalgam in south Kashmir, where 26 people — mostly tourists — were killed and several others injured in a targeted shooting.

In the wake of the deadly attack, the Indian government has taken steps to block access to Pakistani social media accounts, citing national security concerns.

Earlier this week, several Pakistani YouTube channels were also restricted in India for “disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation against India, its Army and security agencies”.

That ban impacted the likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Basit Ali, and Shahid Afridi.