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Video does not show Trump announcing 'lifting X ban' during speech
- Published on January 31, 2025 at 03:11
- 3 min read
- By Masroor GILANI, AFP Pakistan
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"Big announcement by Trump. Trump called Elon Musk on stage to say that the ban of X will soon be lifted wherever it is banned," reads the Urdu-language text in a video published on Facebook on January 20, 2025.
The user has previously published posts supportive of Khan.
It shows a clip of Trump introducing Musk at a rally, who took the stage and gave a short speech. He did not mention X in the video.
A photograph of Khan is also seen next to the clip.
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Access to X became sporadic in the wake of the February 2024 election, where Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won more seats than any other party but a coalition considered more pliable to the military's influence shut them out of power. Pakistan's interior ministry admitted in court papers that the platform was blocked on security grounds (archived link).
The site -- along with Facebook, Instagram and TikTok -- were key planks in the election campaigning of Khan (archived link).
US media reported some of his aides hoped Trump's reelection would help secure the release of the former prime minister based on their past relationship (archived link).
Khan's supporters have also protested outside Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida demanding his help (archived link).
The former cricket star was arrested in May 2023 after being ousted from office and mounting an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the nation's powerful military leaders (archived link).
A member of PTI shared the same video with a similar false claim on X, while another supporter posted the video on Facebook.
But neither Trump nor Musk announced X would be unbanned in Pakistan during the speech.
Keyword searches found the full speech video on US outlet Fox News' YouTube channel showing Trump at a rally on January 19 before his inauguration (archived link).
The video in the false post corresponds to the part between 24:50 and 25:26 in Fox News' video.
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An AFP journalist reviewed the clip and found Trump did not mention unbanning X in Pakistan during the speech.
Pakistan is one of the few countries where access to X is restricted, along with Iran, China and North Korea (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked Khan-related false claims here and here.
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