Political polarisation in Pakistan has intensified manifold since the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan in 2022 through a no-confidence vote. A sharp divide emerged from this so-called democratic process, eroding the possibility of consensus even on matters of national security. As Hamra Tariq noted in Paradigm Shift, "The present time's political polarization in Pakistan has made it extremely difficult to differentiate between manipulation and guidance", with reason and evidence increasingly absent from public debate.

In this fragmented environment, social media has emerged not just as a mirror of division, but as its amplifier. A recent study by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), titled Impact of Social Media on Political Polarisation in Pakistan, offers a comprehensive analysis of how platforms like X, TikTok, Facebook and WhatsApp are reshaping political engagement and deepening ideological divides. The findings are both illuminating and sobering.

Between 2017 and 2025, Pakistan's social media user base more than doubled — from 31 million to 66.9 million. This digital expansion has brought new voices into the political conversation, but it has also created echo chambers and filter bubbles that reinforce existing biases. According to the IPRI study, 62.5% of respondents agreed that social media has made Pakistan's political sphere more polarised.

The algorithms powering these platforms prioritise emotionally charged content, often at the expense of factual accuracy. As political scientist Emilia Palonen has argued, polarisation thrives........

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