Major General (Rtd) Hafeezur Rehman, Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), made it clear that the federal government is the only entity with the authority to stop the social media site “X,” which was formerly known as Twitter.
Informal interviews with reporters revealed that “X” will reopen as soon as the government issued the order. The Sindh High Court is currently hearing the platform’s case because of the large number of complaints it has received in Pakistan.
In response to queries on internet outages, the Chairman pointed out that Pakistan saw only seven internet outages in 2023, compared to 116 in India. He made it clear that national security still comes first even though the PTA opposes internet shutdowns.
The Chairman further stated that although internet connections were only momentarily interrupted in some locations at specific times, mobile services were suspended in certain areas on Ashura, the 10th of Muharram.
Making similarities, he pointed out that Bangladesh similarly cut off cell service during elections, adding that each nation faces different security issues and that decisions are based on intelligence gatherings.
Additionally, he reaffirmed that Panjgur’s mobile data services are temporarily suspended because of persistent security concerns.
