While taking up journalists’ plea challenging social media platform X disruption in various vicinities in the homeland, Sindh High Court Thursday directed Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to fully restore services of social media platform X (formerly Twitter) across the country.
X (formerly Twitter) remains disrupted in many areas of Pakistan for the sixth consecutive day. During hearing of the matter, Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court (SHC) Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi issued directives to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) that the services of X should remain restored ‘without any interruption or disruption’.
Senior journalists file the petition through Advocate Abdul Moiz Jaferii terming restriction or blocking access to X as unlawful, arbitrary and violation of the letter and spirit of Article 19 and 19-A of the Constitution. Making the PTA, interior ministry and information ministry as respondents in the case. X has been inaccessible since Saturday when former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Chattha held a press conference and accused the chief election commissioner and chief justice of being involved in rigging the Feb 08 general elections.
Dawn reported that rights bodies and journalists’ organisations have condemned the muzzling of social media, while internet service providers have also lamented losses due to disruptions.
A day earlier, the United States called on Pakistan to lift social media restrictions. “We are concerned by any report of restrictions on freedom of association and expression in Pakistan, including the partial or complete government-imposed shutdowns on social media platforms,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
The hearing
During the hearing, Advocate Jafferi recalled that the interior ministry said it had not issued any directives regarding the suspension of X. He submitted saying as per the IT ministry, the information technology sector was booming in Pakistan. “The prime minister, interior minister and IT minister are using VPN to tell the public that X has not been suspended,” the lawyer said.
Here, Justice Abbasi inquired, “Who suspends this? Who issued the orders to keep [the platform] shut?” Jafferi responded that the authority to suspend or slow down the services of X only lies with the PTA. “The authority should be asked who issued orders to suspend the platform,” he demanded.
The counsel further highlighted that journalists and others who used X for financial purposes were suffering due to the disruptions, adding that suspension also hindered the provision of advertisements to Palestine and information regarding the situation in Gaza. “For how many days has X been suspended for?” the judge asked. He also recalled that the court had earlier issued directives for uninterrupted access to the internet and social media platforms.
However, Jafferi highlighted that his petition was different, adding that disruptions to the services of X began the day the former Rawalpindi commissioner’s statement pertaining to alleged rigging emerged. Subsequently, the judge directed the PTA to fully restore X and sought detailed responses from the respondents at the next hearing.
