KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) said on Wednesday that the government must restore social
media platform X within one week, a lawyer said, after more than two months of
disruption ordered by the interior ministry.
The platform, formerly known as Twitter, has been rarely accessible since February 17,
when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) called for protests against a government official’s
admission of vote manipulation in February’s election.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) later acknowledged in court papers that it
had been ordered by the interior ministry to shut the site down.
“The Sindh High Court has given the government one week to withdraw the letter, failing
which, on the next date, they will pass appropriate orders,” Moiz Jaaferi, a lawyer
challenging the ban, told AFP.
The interior ministry said that X was blocked on security grounds, according to a report
submitted to Islamabad High Court in a separate challenge to the shutdown and shared
with media.
“It is the sole prerogative and domain of the federal government to decide what falls
within the preview of terms of ‘defence’ or ‘security’ of Pakistan and what steps are
necessary to be taken to safeguard National Security,” said the report, submitted by
Interior Secretary Khurram Agha.
Both the government and PTA had for weeks refused to comment on the outages. The
interior ministry suggested intelligence agencies were behind the order.
The closure of a social media service “when there is request from any security or
intelligence agency” is “well within the scope of provisions of the PTA act”, the report
said.
Activists challenging the shutdown said that it was designed to quash dissent after
February 8 polls that were fraught with claims of rigging.
Access to X has been sporadic, occasionally available for short cycles based on the
internet service provider, forcing users to use virtual private networks, said Alp Toker of
the NetBlocks internet monitor.
Mobile internet services were cut across Pakistan on election day, with the interior
ministry citing security reasons. It was followed by a long delay in issuing voting results,
giving rise to allegations of rigging.
The prolonged disruption of X raised widespread concerns about democratic freedoms in the country.
A total of 28 civil society organisations, including Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, issued a joint statement of condemnation.
Besides, Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar also acknowledged that X was
indeed suspended in Pakistan. He said “There was no official notification for it. But
obviously, everyone can see that its frequency and signal are not functioning normally, and it is being accessed through VPNs. This is indeed true.”