KARACHI
\nSindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi said Tuesday prima facie social media platforms were being managed \u2014 and the names of people causing the disruption would not remain hidden for too long.
\nThe court\u2019s remark came in response to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)\u2019s reply submitted during the hearing of pleas against the suspension of internet and social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter.
\nThe inaccessibility of social media platform X \u2014 which is an important source of information, started in the country before the February 8 general election, while the country also faced complete internet suspension during the polling.
\nSince then, netizens have been facing sporadic disruptions and hindrances in accessing the social media platform despite SHC\u2019s stay order directing the authorities to ensure uninterrupted internet access.
\nA two-member bench headed by CJ Abbasi and comprising Justice Abdul Mobeen Lakho presided over the hearing.
\nThe PTA informed the court in its response that it had no role in suspending or slowing down social media platforms.
\n\u201cThe PTA does not have any tool to slow down or suspend the internet,\u201d the authority\u2019s lawyer apprised the court.
\nHe said that the Ministry of Interior and other agencies had suspended the cellular and internet services due to security concerns. \u201cWe emailed the mobile companies to suspend the services on February 8 and restore the services on February 9,\u201d the PTA lawyer added. At this, the CJ expressed ire, saying that the X is still not accessible.
\n\u201cWhat action has been taken against any company that doesn\u2019t comply with the PTA\u2019s orders,\u201d he asked. He remarked that the internet is being controlled in different ways.
\n\u201cYou said the internet was suspended in the light of the May 9 events. Some political parties weren\u2019t allowed to campaign. You see the internet is not working properly till this day,\u201d the justice added.
\nDuring the hearing, the petitioner\u2019s lawyer expressed objection, asking if X would be suspended if anyone claimed that \u201call the terrorists have gathered on X\u201d.
\nMeanwhile, Jibran Nasir asked that who had suspended the platform if the PTA had admitted that it was not suspended at their behest. \u201cThis makes it an issue of national security,\u201d he added.
\nLater, the court issued notices to the PTA chairman and other authorities concerned about Nasir\u2019s contempt plea and sought the interior ministry\u2019s reply over internet suspension on February 8, by March 20 on Zarrar Khuhro\u2019s plea.
\nThe court also sought responses on the continuous suspension of X and upheld the stay order for uninterrupted internet access.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi said Tuesday prima facie social media platforms were being managed \u2014 and the names of people causing the disruption would not remain hidden for too long. The court\u2019s remark came in response to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)\u2019s reply submitted during the hearing of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-391644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n