PTA Chairman Says Ban on Social Media Site X Tied to Government Orders
- The ban on social media site X in Pakistan is tied to government directives, says PTA Chairman Hafeezur Rehman.
- Despite the ban, usage of X has decreased by 70%, and VPNs are being whitelisted.
- The PTA will lift the ban only if instructed by the government.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Hafeezur Rehman has confirmed that the ongoing ban on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is directly related to government instructions. Rehman made this statement during a meeting of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat in Islamabad on Thursday.
The Pakistani government had imposed the ban on February 17, citing national security concerns. While the platform can still be accessed through virtual private networks (VPNs), its usage has plummeted by 70%. The PTA chairman noted that despite the availability of VPNs, only 30% of people are currently using them. The PTA is also working on whitelisting VPNs, meaning only certain approved VPNs will be accessible in the country.
In response to questions from Senator Abdul Qadir during the Senate meeting, Rehman said the ban on X will be lifted only if and when the government requests it. He also highlighted that X has the lowest compliance ratio among social media platforms, with only 7% of complaints addressed in the past three months.
The PTA Chairman explained that they only block social media platforms at the government’s request and address complaints related to violations of Pakistani law. There is currently no legislation requiring content creators to pay taxes on income from international ads, although negotiations with social media giants like Facebook and Instagram are ongoing.
Additionally, the meeting touched on the progress of local mobile phone manufacturing in Pakistan, with around 37 companies producing phones and 20 million phones manufactured annually. The PTA also reported no cyber attacks on telecom services in the past two years.