The Ministry of Interior, headed by Mohsin Naqvi, has accepted that it directed Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to ban X, formerly Twitter. The Ministry revealed this information in a reply to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), after the court had asked why the social media platform had been shutdown.
In its reply to the IHC, the Ministry quoted the controversial 2021 social media rules stating that Twitter had not registered itself in Pakistan nor signed any MoU with the government of Pakistan.
The reply to IHC said, “As a foreign entity operating in Pakistan, Twitter/X is subject to the regulatory framework of the country, including the compliance with legal directives issued by the Government of Pakistan.”
It further said, “The ban on Twitter/X serves as a necessary step to address this regulatory vacuum and compel the platform to respect the sovereignty and legal jurisdiction of Pakistan.”
The Ministry’s reply also said that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has forwarded numerous requests to Twitter/X through PTA to block those accounts involved in a defamatory campaign against CJP Qazi Faez Isa and criticized the lack of cooperation from Twitter/X.
It also mentioned that TikTok was also banned for a while by Pakistan, after which the company signed an MoU to abide by local laws, address content moderation issues, and enhance cooperation with Pak authorities.
Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court (SHC) also directed the Ministry of Interior to revoke its letter regarding the suspension of X within one week.
“What are you [interior ministry] achieving via shutting down trivial things […] The world must laugh at us,” said SHC Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi.
As of now, X/Twitter has been inaccessible in Pakistan for the last two months.
