ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry on Monday alleged that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had hired foreign companies to run paid social media campaigns aimed at promoting selective narratives and propaganda through coordinated hashtags and trends.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Mr Chaudhry claimed that these companies operated networks of fake social media accounts, many of them impersonating women or news organisations, and were run from outside Pakistan. He said the activity was supported through PTI’s foreign funding and involved accounts operated from countries considered hostile to Pakistan.
The minister presented what he described as documentary evidence, including a video, stating that the material was based on documents provided by X, formerly Twitter. He outlined what he termed the “mechanism” of the alleged operation, saying the companies were hired through an auction process and paid in foreign currency.
According to Mr Chaudhry, the companies created and managed large numbers of accounts whose handlers were neither PTI members nor Pakistani nationals. He said the account names were frequently changed to suit specific campaign requirements. He further alleged that temporary WhatsApp groups were created to disseminate instructions for social media trends and deleted shortly afterward to avoid traceability. New groups, he added, were then formed for subsequent campaigns.
The minister claimed that individual accounts would retweet or amplify messages between 50 and 500 times, with payments for each tweet or trend ranging from small amounts in rupees to a few cents in foreign currency. He alleged that some of the same networks were also involved in promoting content related to banned militant organisations, including the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and pro-Israel groups.
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Mr Chaudhry said that social media platforms had already taken action against some accounts for violating platform policies. However, he noted limitations in enforcement, saying platforms did not share IP addresses or account-holder details due to privacy laws.
“The accounts which make trends [for PTI] also create trends about the activities of TTP, BLA, and pro-Israel groups,” state minister Talal Chaudhry said.https://t.co/xqO9FT0HIN
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) December 15, 2025
The minister said the government possessed information about individuals allegedly involved in such activities but did not intend to initiate immediate criminal proceedings. Instead, he said, the government was issuing a warning against participating in campaigns deemed harmful to national interests for financial gain.
Responding to questions, Mr Chaudhry said PTI had denied involvement, claiming that the trends were organic. He rejected this assertion, saying the government’s analysis showed that “real people” were rarely involved. He added that authorities were engaging with social media companies and considering approaching countries from where the accounts were operated.
PTI did not issue an immediate response to the allegations.
