Ban on X imposed due to national security issues: information minister

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Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Friday that social media platform X has been banned due to national security issues, not to curb freedom of expression.

In March this year, in its first direct admission regarding imposing an official ban on X (formerly Twitter), the interior ministry informed the Sindh High Court (SHC) that the social media platform was blocked in February till further orders on the reports of intelligence agencies.

Access to X has been disrupted in many areas of the country since February 17.

In July, Tarar told a senate panel that X had been banned by the caretaker government over “compliance issues”, while in August, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari said the government may lift the ban on X if social media rules and regulations were framed.

Earlier this month, two lawyers representing the telecom regulator, during a case in the SHC, adopted contradictory stances on whether or not X had been restored.

Today, in an interview with Voice of America, Tarar dispelled the impression that it was an unannounced ban, saying that the caretaker government had banned X before the February 8 general elections due to issues related to compliance.

“Separatists and terrorists were using the platform against Pakistan, which could not be allowed,” Tarar said.

He added that terrorists belonging to the “so-called” Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) were using the platform to promote their anti-state activities.

“Even the terrorists showed their terrorist activities live on the X without any check,” he added.

The minister said the matter of a ban on X was sub judice and the interior ministry had already filed its reply in the court regarding that.

“As Pakistanis, we can request the management of X to remove anti-state content uploaded by terrorists,” he stressed.

Terrorists, he added, were misusing social media platforms which was unjustified.

“There must be some system to regulate social media. A web management system was already in place,” he said, adding there was no harm in ensuring cyber and data security through it.

He opined that a Digital Rights Protection Authority type institution was needed where the people could file complaints for redressal.

A draft for the Digital Rights Protection Authority had been taken up by the federal cabinet, but it was deferred, he added.

The cabinet, he said, issued directives for taking suggestions from all stakeholders, including media houses, journalist organisations like the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, and political parties, so that effective legislation could be carried out for future implementation.

Tarar said that as a political worker, he believed that the ban on X should be removed and that could be possible if the platform improved compliance issues.

“The issue is only of compliance,” he said, adding that if matters improved on that front and the Pakistani authorities and X could have talks with acceptance of each other’s terms then a mechanism could be devised to move the issue forward.