A terrorist attack in Pahalgam in 2025 claimed the lives of 26 people. Following the incident, the Indian government banned the Instagram accounts of several Pakistani celebrities, including Fawad Khan and Hania Aamir, in the country. However, due to a technical glitch in July 2025, the profiles were visible for a short time but were immediately blocked again. Now, months after the incident, some users in India have claimed to have regained access to the profiles.
According to reports, the Instagram accounts of popular Pakistani celebrities like Hania Aamir, Mahira Khan, Fawad Khan, Ayeza Khan, Bilal Abbas Khan, Wahaj Ali and Saba Qamar have been found in parts of India. Some users were able to easily view the profiles, while others reported that the pages were unblocked, but posts or followers lists were not visible.
In many cases, when people searched for these celebrities on Instagram, they saw the same old message that the account was unavailable in India due to a legal request. Instagram clearly flashed the message, “We have complied with a legal request to block this content, so the account is unavailable in India.”
Surprisingly, users who had viewed these profiles were not able to access them for some time. It is being reported that these accounts were visible for a few hours. It is possible that as soon as the authorities came to their attention, they re-imposed geo-restrictions on them. It could also be a technical glitch that caused the Instagram accounts to reappear in India, but now it seems to have been blocked.
However, after the Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian government took strict action and banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels. According to the Home Ministry, these channels were spreading inflammatory content, misinformation and false stories against Indian security agencies and armed forces. The list of banned channels includes major Pakistani media houses like Dawn News, Samaa TV, Bol News and Geo News. The government has made it clear that any digital platform that threatens the integrity and peace of the country will not be tolerated.
