Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif congratulates Trump on X, community note claims 'unlawful VPN use'

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday congratulated US President-elect Donald Trump on his victory in the presidential elections through a post on X.

In his tweet, the Prime Minister wrote, "Congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump on his historic victory for a second term! I look forward to working closely with the incoming administration to further strengthen and broaden the Pakistan-US partnership. @realDonaldTrump."

However, the congratulatory message was accompanied by a community note from X, which added that "Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has banned X in Pakistan. He is using a VPN to access X, which is unlawful according to Pakistani law."

In addition to the Trump tweet, a similar community note was attached to another message from Sharif in which he congratulated Pakistan's national cricket team for their victory over Australia.

The incident comes amid ongoing concerns about the use of social media platforms in Pakistan. Earlier this year, the country’s interior ministry imposed a temporary ban on X, citing national security concerns.

In February, the interior ministry confirmed that X was temporarily blocked due to security concerns, and reiterated that the platform had not established a legal presence in Pakistan, making it difficult to hold it accountable under local laws. Reports revealed that the government cited non-compliance by the social media giant to the country's regulations.