PTI leaders to complain to Imran Khan against misuse of party's social media for anti-army statements

The political committee of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to take up the issue of the party’s official social media accounts being used irresponsibly against army and national interests with its incarcerated founder Imran Khan, The News reported on Saturday.

As per the report, the opposition party's top brass, including Chairman PTI Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Chief Minister (CM) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Ali Amin Gandapur, party Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Opposition leader in the Senate Shibli Faraz, KP party president Junaid Akbar, ex-PTI Information Secretary Raoof Hasan, former speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser, Amir Dogar and Hafiz Farhat attended a meeting of the political committee meeting which held in KP House, Islamabad.

During the meeting, concerns were raised over aggressive and unregulated content posted on PTI's official social media platforms.

It was decided that senior party leaders, in their forthcoming visit to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, will urge Imran Khan to implement oversight mechanisms to prevent the misuse of these platforms, including those directly associated with him.

As per insiders, top leaders will advise the founder of PTI to establish a committee comprising key PTI leaders to vet all content before it is posted on the party’s official accounts, including “X” (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. The main objective of this proposal is to curb the influence of overseas individuals who are allegedly using these accounts for anti-military campaigns and posts that could harm Pakistan’s interests.

One senior party source stated that nearly all top party leaders agreed that stricter controls are necessary.

PTI’s senior leadership has no control over the party’s social media apparatus, which is reportedly managed from overseas. Even Barrister Gohar, Salman Akram Raja, and Shiekh Waqas Akram have no influence over the content being posted. Efforts to engage PTI’s US chapter to curb controversial narratives have reportedly been ignored in the past.

The News further reported that psrty leaders complain that their statements and press conferences are ignored by PTI’s official accounts, which instead focus on the posts and statements of some YouTubers living abroad.

Such is the pressure from PTI’s social media and select diaspora groups that party leaders hesitate to contradict propaganda, even when it is false or exaggerated. Many believe that only Imran Khan can bring the party’s digital platforms under structured editorial control. 

However, past attempts to convince the jailed party founder have been unsuccessful, as he has consistently praised and endorsed the content disseminated by PTI’s official social media accounts.