I do not have a button to shut down the internet: IT Minister

State Minister for Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja has addressed the issue of internet shutdowns and the ban on X (formerly Twitter) in the country.

Addressing the floor of the National Assembly on Wednesday, the IT Minister said that shutting down the internet does not benefit the government, adding, “I do not have a button to shut down the internet.”

She further stated that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) reports suggest that the internet has improved by 28 per cent in Pakistan since last year, adding that mobile internet users have grown by 24 per cent.

Responding to the ban on X, Khawaja remarked that freedom of expression has nothing to do with the prohibition of X and substantiated her claims by saying, “On the public level, Facebook and TikTok are widely used, while only two per cent of Pakistani citizens use X.”

She said if there really was to be a ban on freedom of expression , then “Facebook and TikTok would have been banned” instead of X.

Khawaja stated, “I don’t think any other country has as much freedom of speech as this country has.” However, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2024 reports on the World Press Freedom Index placed Pakistan on the ranks of 152 out of 180 countries.

Additionally, the IT Minister, however, while highlighting the negative side of freedom of expression, said that people often use social media to defame others and treat public officeholders as if they are “public property.”

It merits a mention that after the general election of 2024, X was banned in the country and was only accessible through Virtual Private Network (VPN), which the government had also started to ban due to “security concerns.”

Meanwhile, on December 16, following approvals from the federal cabinet in June this year, the IT Minister tabled the Digital Nation Pakistan Bill, 2024, in the NA session, which aimed to create a digital identity for citizens to centralise social, economic, and governance data.

The bill read that it was expedient to enable the people to become a digital nation by leveraging the transformative power of digital technologies, responsible use of data, innovative service delivery models and robust digital public infrastructure to accelerate sustainable economic development, improve citizen well-being, and modernise governance frameworks for efficient and effective public service delivery.

As per the bill, key governance bodies such as the National Digital Commission (NDC), Strategic Oversight Committee (SOC), and the Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA) will be established.

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