X rebuffs PTA attempts to suspend Imran

Authority tells IHC it approached platform three times since 2022

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday that it had approached X on three occasions over the past three-and-a-half years, seeking the suspension of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan's account, but most of its requests were declined.

According to a PTA report submitted to the court, the authority first wrote to X on August 21, 2022, requesting that Imran's account be blocked. A second request was sent on April 18, 2024, citing convictions in the Toshakhana, cipher and iddat cases, the report said.

The proceedings stem from a writ petition filed by a citizen seeking the blocking of Imran's X, formerly Twitter, account.

The PTA told the court that a third request was made on November 27, 2025, seeking the blocking of "47 tweets" posted by the PTI founder. However, X acted on only one tweet, while the remainder of the request was rejected, according to the report.

The PTA stated that despite contacting X "three times" during this period, the social media platform declined to suspend the account. The authority also informed the court that it had directed social media companies to register with the PTA and appoint local representatives in Pakistan, but said the companies had "neither registered nor appointed a local focal person".

The report further noted that social media companies are registered in their respective countries and "do not consider themselves bound by the laws of other states", adding that complaints from other jurisdictions are assessed under each platform's internal policies.

The PTA's report was submitted to the IHC in connection with a petition seeking the closure of the PTI founder's X account.