Rights activists say free speech ‘critically under threat’ in Pakistan as X disruption enters eighth day

This photo illustration shows the X logo (formerly Twitter) on a smartphone screen in Los Angeles, California, on July 31, 2023. (AFP)

• Access to the social media platform was restricted days after Pakistan’s controversial election, which was marred by rigging claims
• Lawyer Jibran Nasir seeks contempt proceedings against Pakistan Telecommunication Authority for defying court’s order to restore X

KARACHI: Digital rights activists said on Sunday that free speech was “critically under threat” in Pakistan as the South Asian nation continued to experience a disruption of social media platform X for the eighth consecutive day, despite a high court ruling to immediately restore it.
The platform went down on the night of February 17, when a senior government official made a public admission of vote manipulation in the February 8 national election, which was marred by a mobile network outage and delays in release of constituency results.
The suspension of mobile networks and subsequent delays in poll results led to widespread allegations of vote-rigging and sparked protests, mainly by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, against alleged manipulation of results.
Usama Khilji, director of the Bolo Bhi Internet, censorship and gender advocacy group in Pakistan, said non-compliance of the court order meant there was “complete impunity” for the violation of the Constitution as well as orders of the higher judiciary.
“I think free speech is critically under threat,” he told Arab News, adding it was quite concerning as there was no protection of fundamental rights of the citizens of Pakistan.
The Sindh High Court this week ordered authorities to immediately restore the social media platform after concerned citizens in the southern Pakistan province of Sindh moved the court against the disruption of X.
Jibran Nasir, a human rights lawyer who filed one of the two petitions in the Sindh High Court, said he had already filed a contempt of court case against chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), which regulates Internet and social media platforms in the country, over non-compliance of the court orders.
Arab News reached out to PTA spokesperson Malahat Obaid for a comment on the matter, but she referred the query to the interior ministry. There was no response from the interior ministry either.
Nasir, the human rights lawyer, said the unannounced restriction on X indicated the state was “scared of free speech.”
“These repeated interruptions, disruptions and now what we are seeing as prolonged ban on Twitter, or X, which is primarily a medium for information sharing where academic, journalists, politicians, people from different walks of life and the masses at large interact indicates that the state is scared of free speech, the state is petrified by the idea that citizens under the constitution can have the liberty to exercise their right to freedom of expression,” he told Arab News.
“It’s also indicative of the fear of the state that what can an empowered and informed electorate do, so that’s why to ensure that the people don’t have free access to flow of information and that they don’t have the medium where they can express their views.”
Nighat Dad, a digital rights activist, said while the disruption of X was a “blatant violation of civil liberties,” it had sent out a message to the world that Pakistan might not be a “good market” for them.
“Any banning or blocking, or disruption of any platform tells the world that there’s something wrong with our policies” she said, questioning who would bring their investment to Pakistan under such circumstances.
Amber Rahim Shamsi, director of the Center for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) and another petitioner against the disruption, said the PTA was “violating its own rules and regulations” by banning the social media platform and the move had not helped stop any mis- or disinformation.
“Mis- and dis-information cannot be identified and documented on private Facebook accounts or WhatsApp groups,” said Shamsi, who also heads the iVerify Pakistan fact-checking platform.
“Banning Twitter has not stopped the spread of mis- and dis-information, but the ability of independent fact-checkers to trace and respond.”