Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Hafeez ur Rehman has stated that under the PECA Act, the government issues instructions to shut down platforms. We can block or unblock social media, there is no middle way.
A meeting of the National Assembly’s IT Standing Committee was held under the chairmanship of Syed Amin Ul Haq.
During the meeting, Syed Amin Ul Haq mentioned that discussions are ongoing among political parties regarding the Digital Nation Pakistan Bill. He hopes that the dialogue between the party leadership will yield positive results, and once the bill is passed by the committee, it will go to Parliament.
PTI leader Omar Ayub said that previously, phone surveillance was conducted, but now citizens are under surveillance. Such tactics are being used by the government. The government’s intention is questionable in the matter of VPN registration.
Romina Khurshid stated that monitoring of things is done worldwide.
PTA Chairman Hafeez ur Rehman said that he would speak on oath regarding the matter, mentioning that three out of seven submarine cables were cut, and after five months, the submarine cables were restored in October. There has been an improvement in internet service compared to October.
The PTA chairman added that the quality report is before you, and if something goes wrong, I am accountable. Letters have been sent to all social media companies and other companies asking if there were any issues with internet service. If there were service issues, why would we write letters to the companies? The government has not spent a single penny on telecom infrastructure. Without building digital highways, the problem will not be resolved.
He further said that we cannot slow down social media platforms, and digital highways need to be built for internet improvement. In the last 10 years, not a single submarine cable has come. Bringing in submarine cables and laying fiber cables is the responsibility of the government.
