Interior ministry says ‘no decision yet’ on restoration of X service in Pakistan

In this photo illustration, the X (Twitter) log seen displayed on a smart phone. (REUTERS/File)

• X suspended since Feb. 17 when a government official admitted to vote manipulation in last month’s election
• Pakistan Telecommunications has told Sindh High Court in writing it blocked X on orders of interior ministry

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani interior ministry said on Thursday it had not yet made a decision regarding the restoration of social networking platform X, which has been suspended since Feb. 17.
The platform, formerly known as Twitter, was downed after jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party called for protests against a government official’s admission of vote manipulation in last month’s election, which was itself marred by a nationwide mobile network shutdown and delays in release of constituency results.
On Wednesday, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), which regulates the Internet, informed a high court in the Sindh province in writing that it had blocked X on the orders of the interior ministry.
“No decision yet,” Muhammad Rafiullah, an interior ministry spokesperson, told Arab News in response to a query about the restoration of X, declining further details.
A PTA spokesperson also said there was no update on the restoration of the social media platform that has around 4.5 million users in the South Asian nation of 241 million.
In its statement to the Sindh High Court on petitions filed against the disruption of X, the PTA admitted it had blocked the platform on the written instructions of the interior ministry, which sent a letter with the subject line, “Blockage of X (Twitter),” on Feb. 17, ordering it to shut the platform down on the same day.
“It is, therefore, requested that the social media platform i.e. X (formerly Twitter) may be blocked immediately till further orders,” the interior ministry’s letter to the PTA, which has been submitted in court, reads. 
Abdul Moiz Jaferii, one of the petitioners in the case against the X blockade, said the letter produced in the court carried “no reasoning” for the suspension, and called it an “illegal direction” by the interior ministry.
“The restriction of X service in Pakistan is unreasonable and illegal, and a clear attempt to curtail fundamental rights of the people,” he told Arab News. “The court has taken up our plea because open-ended restriction of the service cannot be justified.”
Jaferii said the court had given “one more chance” to the government to explain its position and justify the ban as legal or else face an “an adverse order.” 
The Sindh High Court will resume hearing the case on April 17.
The prolonged disruption of X has raised widespread concerns about democratic freedoms in the country, prompting 28 civil society organizations, including Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), to issue a joint statement of condemnation last week.
The disruption has also been condemned by the US administration which has repeatedly asked the government in Islamabad to lift “restrictions on freedom of speech and expression.”