Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, congratulates Trump and receives a community letter from X for "illegal access to the platform."

Citing national security concerns, Pakistan's interior ministry had prohibited access to X in April.

After X (previously Twitter) released a community notice criticizing his tweet, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's congratulations to US President-elect Donald Trump on his election victory sparked a social media controversy.

Sharif posted on X on November 6, following the announcement of the US election results: "Congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump on his historic victory for a second term! I'm excited to collaborate closely with the incoming administration to deepen and expand the partnership between the United States and Pakistan.

Following this, a Community Note on X highlighted the post, pointing out that the Prime Minister was using a VPN to access the platform, which is prohibited by Pakistani law.

"X, formerly Twitter, has been banned in Pakistan by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The X Community Note stated, "He is accessing X through a VPN, which is against Pakistani law."

It's unclear, though, if the PM tweeted from outside the nation or used X to access the platform.

Citing national security concerns, Pakistan's interior ministry had prohibited access to X in April.

"It is very pertinent to mention here that the imposition of a ban was necessary due to Twitter/X's failure to comply with the legitimate directives of the government of Pakistan and address concerns regarding the misuse of its platform," the ministry had stated, as reported by news agency Reuters.

In order to protect public order, national security, and the integrity of our country, it was decided to ban Twitter and X in Pakistan, the statement continued.

Additionally, the ministry had stated that it had taken into account classified reports from Pakistan's security and intelligence services before deciding to block X.

Additionally, it stated that "hostile elements operating on Twitter/X have nefarious intentions to create an environment of chaos and instability, with the ultimate goal of destabilizing the country and plunging it into some form of anarchy."