- Ministry submits report, saying Twitter/X banned in Pakistan in interest of national security
- SHC orders Interior Ministry to rescind its February 17 letter within a week
ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: The interior ministry on Wednesday informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that the misuse of X, formerly Twitter, necessitated the need to ban the social media platform while the Sindh High Court ordered the ministry, in a similar plea, to rescind its February 17 letter within a week.
The development comes since it has been two months the services of X, formerly twitter, disrupted in the country.
Interior Secretary Khurram Agha, on behalf of his ministry, submitted a report on the IHC’s orders on journalist Ehtisham Abbasi’s petition challenging the ban.
IHC Chief Justice Amir Farooq presided over the hearing while Advocate Amna Ali appeared as the petitioner’s counsel. Additional Attorney General (AAG) Munawar Iqbal Duggal was present on the state’s behalf.
During the hearing, the AAG informed the court that the interior ministry had filed a report on the matter.
Justice Farooq then stated that another petition had been filed on the disruption, on which he was issuing notices to the respondents and sought a reply on the new plea.
Subsequently, the hearing was adjourned till May 2.
Access to X has been disrupted since February 17, when former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Chattha accused the chief election commissioner and chief justice of Pakistan of being involved in rigging the February 8 general elections.
Rights bodies and journalists’ organisations have condemned the muzzling of social media, while internet service providers have also lamented losses due to disruptions. The United States had also called on Pakistan to lift restrictions on social media platforms.
On March 20, the interior ministry informed the Sindh High Court (SHC) that the social media platform was blocked in February pending further orders on the reports of intelligence agencies.
The interior ministry’s admission came days after Information Minister Attaullah Tarar acknowledged that X was “already banned” when the new government took over the reins from the caretaker set-up, saying there was no official notification for the clampdown.
At the previous hearing, the IHC had rejected a report on digital media outages and summoned the interior secretary along with documentary evidence providing the ground for the disruption of the social media app.
The court had also summoned the interior secretary on April 17.
“Elections have concluded. Let’s finish this now. Let the interior secretary come, then we will see. If the secretary is unable [to give reasons], then I will summon the prime minister,” IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Aamer Farooq had warned.
The report
The report submitted by the interior ministry, said the “failure of Twitter/X to adhere to the lawful directives of the government of Pakistan and address concerns regarding the misuse of its platform necessitated the imposition of a ban”.
Detailing the platform’s shutdown, the report said the interior ministry had on February 17 “asked for blocking of X (Twitter) immediately till further orders” on the reports of intelligence agencies.
“The decision to impose a ban on Twitter/X in Pakistan was made in the interest of upholding national security, maintaining public order, and preserving the integrity of our nation,” it contended, adding that the decision was taken after considering “various confidential reports received from intelligence and security agencies of Pakistan”.
“The ban on Twitter serves as a necessary step to disrupt the activities of these elements and prevent them from achieving their destructive objectives,” the report said.
It noted that X was neither registered in Pakistan nor had it signed any agreement to abide by local laws. It said that the platform’s “failure to establish a legal presence or engage in meaningful cooperation with Pakistani authorities underscores the need for regulatory measures to ensure accountability and adherence to national laws”.
“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 interior ministry added.
The interior ministry noted that other countries of the world had also imposed bans on social media platforms from time to time and when “deemed necessary for the safety and security of their country”.
It went on to recall a ban on TikTok in Pakistan “due to similar concerns”, which it said was lifted upon the company signing an MoU, agreeing to abide by local laws and address content moderation issues.
It “vehemently denied” the arguments made in the petition against the ban, arguing that the laws and older judgments cited therein were “not applicable” in this case. The ministry urged the IHC to dispose of the petition.
The plea
The petition was filed by Ehtisham Abbasi, a resident of Islamabad, and named the information ministry and the PTA as the respondents in the case.
It urged the high court to issue directives to the respondents to “immediately lift the ban on X (Twitter) access in the interest of justice”.
SHC seeks response from interior ministry by May 9 on X ban
On the other hand, in a similar hearing, the Sindh High Court summoned a response from the interior ministry on the ban on X by May 9 and ordered it to rescind its February 17 letter within a week.
A two-judge bench headed by Sindh Chief Justice (CJ) Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and comprising Justice Abdul Mubeen Lakho resumed the hearing on a set of petitions filed against the suspension of mobile and internet services during general elections as well as the outage of social media platforms across the country.
Advocate Abdul Moiz Jaferii and activist Jibran Nasir, lawyers for the petitioners, told the judges that the interior ministry had admitted to writing a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to shut down X without any reasons given or the relevant law and conditions under which the instruction was given.
CJ Abbasi questioned for what reason was X shut down to which Additional Attorney General (AAG) Zia Makhdoom said the social media platform was working a day ago. The chief justice subsequently asked him whether it was currently working or not to which the AAG said he would take instructions on the matter.
Advocate Jaferii continued that the ongoing restriction of X despite the SHC’s Feb 22 order to restore services amounted to contempt of court.
“It has finally been admitted that X has been closed. It was closed the day after the Rawalpindi commissioner said there was rigging in the elections. Because the media has been controlled but there are discussions on X.”
The lawyers for the petitioners said a large fine could be levied on a social media platform carrying wrong information and that service providers are issued a notice prior to shutting down social media to provide a response, failing which the relevant platform can be closed.
Nasir said that 40 to 50 million people in the country used X, adding that internet speeds were considerably affected by using virtual private networks .
The AAG requested time to take instructions to which the chief justice asked him if only X was shut down.
“You have to run the country, you know the facts on the ground, you also know the national interest. There are some things that are getting out of hand and no one is benefiting from it,” CJ Abbasi said, adding that the institutions and the courts were there for the benefit of the people.
“Compliance with the Constitution and the national interest are important,” the judge said. The AAG was subsequently asked to give the reasons for the interior ministry’s letter to shut down X.
“The world laughs at us due to internet shutdown,” CJ Abbasi said.
Meanwhile, Jaferii said that prior to the emergence of the Feb 17 interior ministry letter, the PTA even refused to admit that it had shut down X and state lawyers used to misguide the courts that X is working by using VPNs.
The bench subsequently ordered the interior ministry to rescind its Feb 17 letter for the shutdown of X, saying that it would give its verdict if the letter was not withdrawn within a week.
It also ordered the ministry to give the reasons for the shutdown of X till May 9.
The chief justice said there was no provision in the law that said the interior ministry should take action based on the reports of sensitive institutions.
“Some people are thinking that what they are doing is right. They are so powerful that they are running the country and what is being gained by shutting down small things. The whole world must laugh at us.”
The lawyers for the petitioners said that mobile services were suspended on the day of the general elections to prevent any terrorist attack or blast. Nasir added that such incidents were not caused by using X or social media.
“Prima facie, no justification was presented for banning X,” the chief justice said.
