The Ministry of Interior issued orders on February 17 that resulted in the nationwide ban on social media platform X, as the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) notified the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday. The Ministry of Interior’s instructions were based on intelligence agency reports.
With sporadic service restorations, the X website has been mostly unavailable since February 17. This is mostly because former commissioner Rawalpindi Liaquat Ali Chatta made a statement in front of the media asserting that the “elections were rigged.”
PTA Chairman Hafeezur Rehman said on Tuesday that he would bring up the inconvenience caused by X with the interior ministry.
Rehman, a retired major general, stated over the phone with Dawn.com that “either the matter should be cleared or someone should take responsibility for it.” The interior ministry is always in charge of social media forum closures.
Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmad Abbasi and Justice Abdul Mubeen Lakho, who make up the two-member SHC bench, combined four complaints against internet disruption that were brought by diverse parties, including journalist Zarrar Khurho and attorney Jibran Nasir.
During the hearing, the PTA brought a copy of a February 17 letter from the Ministry of Interior to the telecommunications authority, directing it to “immediately till further orders” ban social networking platform X. The letter did not specify why the block was needed.
The PTA stated in its response, which was filed with the court today, that the directives issued by the interior ministry were based on information provided by intelligence services.
The court voiced its dissatisfaction with the interior ministry’s refusal to provide a written response at the beginning of the hearing.
On behalf of the interior ministry, Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Khaleeq Ahmed requested an extension of time for the response.
DAG Ahmed was chastised by Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmad Abbasi, who also requested a “serious response” from him.
Subsequently, DAG provided the official answer on behalf of the interior ministry, claiming that all province governments’ instructions caused the services to be interrupted only on May 9.
The statement read, “Ministry of Interior issues orders for suspension of 3G/4G services only in cases where citizens’ and the state’s security is at stake.”
There was no additional commentary in the response.
The ministry’s response was added to the case file, and the bench continued the hearing until April 17.
