IT Minister Syed Aminul Haque has said the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) must seek consultation with the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) before blocking any website in the country.
The decision was taken in a ministerial committee meeting held on February 9 regarding the recent Wikipedia ban in Pakistan. It was attended by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar.
“Before blocking any website it will be mandatory to seek consultation with the IT ministry,” said Haque. “Blocking a website means disconnection from the digital world and social and economic damages. We are against any measure that hinders the process of development and progress in the country.”
کسی بھی ویب سائٹ کی بندش سے قبل وزارت آئی ٹی سے مشاورت لازمی ہوگی. ویب سائٹ بندش کا مطلب ڈیجیٹل دنیا سےرابطہ منقطع اورسماجی ومعاشی نقصان کرنا ہے. ہم ایسے کسی بھی اقدام کے مخالف ہیں جس سےملک کی تعمیر و ترقی کاعمل مفلوج ہوتا ہو، امین الحق.
— Ministry of IT & Telecom (@MoitOfficial) February 9, 2023
Amendments to the law are needed that would prevent the blocking of a website, remarked Tarar. Qamar, on the other hand, expressed support for the restoration of Wikipedia on the orders of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the prevention of such actions in future. The online encyclopedia was restored on February 6.
The PTA drew immense criticism and scrutiny for blocking Wikipedia on February 3 over what the authority had labelled “sacrilegious content”. The ban came after the telecom regulator’s 48-hour deadline to the online encyclopedia to take down the reported content had passed. Wikipedia’s parent organisation, Wikimedia, stated that the platform receives over 50 million monthly page views from Pakistan alone and called on the government to restore Wikipedia.
A joint statement was signed by civil society, tech organisations and academic institutions condemning the ban and expressing concern over the serious implications of PTA’s measure on students and information workers. It termed the blocking of Wikipedia a violation of Article 19 of the Constitution and called for its immediate restoration.
Wikipedia services were downgraded across Pakistan on February 1. The PTA claimed that Wikipedia had been given an “opportunity of hearing”, but it neither took down the reported content nor appeared before the regulator. The encyclopedia was subsequently blocked under Section 37 (unlawful online content) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA) and Social Media Rules 2021, which had been sent to the Parliament for review by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in May 2022.
The PTA was called out for continuing to misuse contended laws while they are under review.
