For the first time, it was discovered today that internet shutdown is wrong, says PTA Chairman

 If blocking the internet is wrong, then why has the government been shutting down the internet for nine years? I can tell you the date and time when the internet was shut down, Hafeez-ur-Rehman's speech at the Senate Standing Committee meeting

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Islamabad (UrduPoint News - 1st January 2025) Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Hafeez-ur-Rehman has said that today it was found out for the first time that blocking the internet is wrong. If blocking the internet is wrong, then why has the government been blocking the internet from us for nine years? The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology held a meeting under the chairmanship of Senator Palwasha Khan, in which the Ministry of IT and PTA were briefed on the disruption of the internet.

The PTA Chairman has said that the PTA receives 500 complaints about social media content every day. The PTA requests social media platforms to block content. Social media platforms block 80 percent of the content and 20 percent of the content is not blocked.

Committee member Senator Kamran Murtaza said that where is the power to block the internet in a particular area.

Where in the Act is it written that it has to be blocked in a particular area? On this occasion, the legal member of the IT Ministry said that the Act does not clearly mention any particular area. The Chairman PTA says that it is written in the Rules that the Ministry of Interior can direct the PTA. Senator Kamran Murtaza said that if it is not written in the law, how can you block the internet?

On this, Chairman PTA Hafeez-ur-Rehman said that if this is wrong, then why has the government been blocking the internet from us for 9 years. I can tell you the date and time when the internet was blocked. Senator Kamran Murtaza said that we are not the government, we are the parliament. The Chairman PTA told Kamran Murtaza that all of you have been in the government at some point. On this occasion, Senator Humayun Mohmand also said that only the content is mentioned in the Rules.

The Chairman PTA said that the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Interior can give the final legal opinion in this regard. Social media apps have been blocked many times on the orders of the Supreme Court and the High Court. Was the shutdown of the net on February 8, even on election day, wrong? Internet and social media applications are shut down on the orders of the Supreme Court. Secretary IT and Telecom said that it has been many years since the rules were made, Senator Kamran Murtaza said that can the rules go beyond the Act? If it is the decision of the Supreme Court, did the ministry file a review?

Speaking during the meeting, Chairman PTA Hafeez-ur-Rehman also said that we have taken a stand on the issue of VPN shutdown and I did not allow VPNs to be shut down. The registration process of VPN service providers was started on December 19. 2 Internet service providers have applied for a license. The member committee said that the download speed is fine but the applications are not running, voice notes are not going either, on which the Chairman PTA said that there are seven submarine cables in Pakistan.

Four to five more submarine cables are coming. The work of laying the 2 Africa cable will be completed this year. It is currently ranked 97th in the world in terms of internet speed. The PTA chairman said that a shark cannot cut this submarine cable. If you call something else a shark, then that is a different matter.