(24 News) In the meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology, Chairman PTA said that whenever a letter from the Ministry of Interior comes, the Internet is shut down, this practice has been going on before my arrival.
The meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on IT was held under the chairmanship of Senator Palusha Khan, in which the officials of the Ministry of IT and PTA gave a briefing on the disruption in the Internet service.
Briefing the meeting, Chairman PTA said that 500 complaints of social media content are received daily, PTA requests the social media platforms to block the content, on which the platforms block 80% of the content.
During the meeting, Senator Kamran Murtaza said that if it is not written in the law, how can you block the internet? Where is it written in the act to block the internet in a particular area, the legal member of the IT Ministry said that the act does not clearly mention any particular area.
On this occasion, Chairman PTA said that it is written in the rules that the Ministry of Home Affairs can give instructions to PTA, if it is wrong, why has the government stopped the internet from us for 9 years, I can tell you the date and time. Internet shut down, Internet and social media applications are shut down on the orders of the Supreme Court, many social media apps were shut down on the orders of the Supreme Court and the High Court.
Chairman PTA said that all of you have been in the government at one time or another, since 2016, whenever a letter from the Ministry of Interior comes, the Internet is shut down. This practice has been going on before my arrival. It is wrong, was the closure of the net on February 8 election day also wrong? The Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Interior can give the final legal opinion in this regard.
Senator Humayun Mohmand said that it is not the job of the Ministry to tell the Supreme Court that this thing is not in the Act or Rules, the Rules also only mention the content, on this the Special Secretary of the Ministry of IT said that all the Online content is blocked only by turning off the internet.
Chairman PTA said that we have taken a stand on the issue of VPN shutdown and did not allow it to be shut down. The process of registration of VPN service providers was started on December 19. , hopefully there will be a large number of applications.
Chairman PTA said that 7 submarine cables are coming in Pakistan, one is coming under the name of submarine cable to Africa, connectivity with this cable will be done this year, 4 more submarine cables are being connected in the coming years. Yes, sharks can’t eat submarine cables, we’re 97th in terms of internet speed.
Later, the standing committee summoned the officials of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Law.