Govt given 'last chance' to explain X ban

Listen to article

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has given "the final chance" to the federal government to explain the mechanism it adopted while imposing a ban on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

The LHC observed that objectionable content on a social media platform can be blocked but the presence of such content does not warrant a complete ban on a platform.

A three-member bench led by LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum on Thursday resumed hearing the petitions filed against suspension of X that took place in February last year.

PTA Chairman Major Gen (retd) Hafeez Ur Rehman appeared before the bench and submitted a written response to the petitions.

During the hearing, the federal government's lawyer, Asad Bajwa, said the Ministry of Interior lacks a system to track individual internet usage and has, therefore, to impose a blanket ban.

Chief Justice Neelum expressed wonder as to how the ministry can block X but does not have a system to track its usage. Bajwa informed the bench that the government has formed a committee to look into the matter. The CJ dismissed it as a delaying tactic: "This committee is just to mislead the court."

When the lawyer told the bench that the government has written to X administration for removal of objectionable content, the CJ asked if there is a formal agreement between the government and X. "Why would X respond to you if there is no agreement?" she asked.

A member of the bench, Justice Ali Zia Bajwa, asked the PTA chairman if the PTA's official X account was still active. When the PTI chairman replied in the affirmative, the judge noted in a sarcastic manner that the PTA had banned X but was using the platform itself

During the hearing, the PTA chairman stated that all X users in Pakistan were accessing X via VPN. He denied using a VPN personally but admitted that the PTA was indeed using a VPN, a statement that he tried to retract later.

The CJ rebuked the PTA chief for coming to the court unprepared and making "a false statement". "Summoning the PTA chairman was a waste—he lacks knowledge," she said.

When the PTA chairman said the authority could restore X if directed by the court, Justice Bajwa noted that the PTA had apparently acted wrongly and was now looking for justification to revive the social media platform. Justice Bajwa stated that rules allow content blocking but not a platform-wide ban.