Source: AFP
A Pakistani Supreme Court ordered the government on Wednesday to restore access to the social media platform X within a week, a lawyer said, after a shutdown of more than two months.
The platform, formerly known as Twitter, has been rarely accessible since February 17, when jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party called for protests against a government official’s admission of vote rigging in the February election.
Pakistan’s communications authority later acknowledged in court documents that it had been ordered by the interior ministry to shut down the website.
“The Sindh High Court has given the government a week to withdraw the letter, otherwise, on the next date, they will issue appropriate orders,” Moise Jaffery, a lawyer challenging the ban, told AFP.
The court’s decision is expected to be published in the next few hours.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/d0f3cdcada002d4d.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/d0f3cdcada002d4d.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
Trump media conglomerate plans TV streaming platform
The interior ministry said X was blocked for security reasons, according to a petition filed in the Islamabad High Court in a separate challenge to the shutdown and shared with the media.
“It is the exclusive prerogative and competence of the federal government to decide what falls within the scope of the terms ‘defence’ or ‘security’ of Pakistan and what measures should be taken to ensure national security,” said the report, which was submitted. by Interior Minister Khurram Agha.
Both the government and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) have for weeks refused to comment on the outage.
The interior ministry said intelligence agencies were behind the order.
Shutting down a social media service “when there is a request by any security or intelligence agency” is “well within the scope of the provisions of the PTA Act”, the report said.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/293722be635eb189.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/293722be635eb189.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
Read also
Stocks sink, oil rallies on Iran-Israel conflict fears
Digital rights activists said it was designed to stifle dissent after the February 8 polls were riddled with allegations of fraud.
“Block X appears to be intended to discourage the democratic accountability that a platform with immediate real-time information updates enables, especially at a time when controversial elections have emerged with strong allegations and evidence of fraud,” expert Usama Khilji told AFP. .
Access to X was sporadic, occasionally available for short cycles based on the ISP, forcing users to use virtual private networks.
Mobile internet services were disrupted across Pakistan on election day, with the interior ministry citing security concerns.
This was followed by a long delay in the release of the voting results, which led to allegations of fraud.
Khan’s opposition party had already faced heavy censorship in the weeks before the election, banned from television channels and holding rallies, forcing his campaign online.
Despite the crackdown, his party won the most seats but was kept from power by a coalition of rival parties backed by the military.
Source: AFP