• Tarar says ban imposed to address national, public safety. 
• Info minister also dismisses notion that ban on X unannounced. 
• As political worker, minister believes ban on X should be removed. 
  

NEW YORK: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, on Friday said that ban on X, formerly Twitter, was imposed due to national security issues, not to curb freedom of expression.

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

The ministers statement came as the Ministry of Interior on July 9, told Sindh High Court (SHC) that ban on Twitter/X in Pakistan does not contravene Article 19 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to freedom of speech and expression.

The Ministry of Interior also submitted that ban was imposed to address genuine concern related to national security and public safety and it was undertaken with due consideration for the overreaching goal of promoting responsible and lawful communication in the society.

However, Tarar, during his interview, claimed that the “separatists and terrorists” were using the platform against Pakistan which could not be allowed. 

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

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

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

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

“There must be some system to regulate the social media. 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 readdress.

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, journalists organisations including “Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists” and political parties so that an effective legislation could be done for future implementation.

He said as a political worker, he believed that ban on X should be removed and that could be possible if its management improved compliance issues.

Apart from the overt and obvious ban on X, The News reported on June 7 that the government was also installing a national firewall on different internet service providers (ISPs) to rein in social media with filters capable of blocking unwanted content from reaching a wider audience.