ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Hafeezur Rehman on Thursday said that they will unban X, formerly known as Twitter, whenever the government asks them to do so.
Rehman made the statement during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat chaired by Rana Mahmoodul Hasan in Islamabad.
Following the ban, various petitions were filed in the Sindh High Court (SHC) against restrictions on micro-blogging sites and intermittent suspension of Internet services in the country.
Last month, the federal government defended the X ban in its response to the SHC, saying the move was “legitimate” in terms of addressing national security concerns.
The matter was also discussed in a Senate body meeting today when Senator Abdul Qadir asked if the telecom regulator planned to remove the ban from the website.
“We will remove the X ban the day the government asks us to do so,” Rehman said.
The chairman informed lawmakers that only 7% of complaints submitted to the platform in the past three months had been resolved and that X had the lowest compliance ratio among all platforms.
Rehman explained that they only block social media platforms at the request of the government. He added that they approach the platforms for any complaints regarding social media that violate Pakistani laws.
VPN is whitelisted
Talking about VPN usage in Pakistan, the PTA chairman said that the usage of X in Pakistan has decreased by 70% despite the availability of VPN.
“Only 30% of people use a VPN,” he said, stressing that VPNs can be blocked.
He also told the members that PTA is whitelisting VPNs after which only selected VPNs will be available in Pakistan.
Rehman said about 56% people have access to the Internet.
When asked whether content creators pay taxes on international advertising income, the PTA chairman said there is currently no legislation in this regard.
Ads on social networks
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said that they are dealing with international social media platforms — Facebook and Instagram — in this regard.
The Cabinet Secretary said the matter of social media advertising will be referred to the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR).
The secretary then informed the meeting that the local production of mobile phones had started. He added that people can now buy phones on installments, which will help in promoting digitization.
About 20 million phones are produced locally annually, of which 40% are smartphones, he said.
