Pakistan’s Telecom Authority on Wednesday informed the Senate Standing Committee that it had threatened social media website Twitter with a ban if it does not comply with its directions to block objectionable content, Dawn reported. The authority cited an Islamabad High Court directive to the telecom authority asking it to issue a final warning to Twitter.
Nisar Ahmed, director general of the authority’s internet policy and web analysis, told the committee that Twitter had not responded to its notices. The authority praised Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms that had complied with the government’s orders. “Out of a hundred requests from Pakistan to block certain offensive material, roughly 5% are entertained. Twitter ignores all the remaining requests,” Ahmed said.
The regulator’s head said Twitter had more to lose than Pakistan if it were blocked in the country. “The court is determined to teach Twitter a lesson – they will lose business,” Ahmed told the committee.
When contacted, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Information Secretary Fawad Chaudhry said his party was against any kind of censorship on free media. “Blocking social media websites will have both social and economic impacts,” the report quoted Chaudhry as saying.
Previous governments have imposed bans on various social platforms, Dawn reported. Facebook was banned in Pakistan in 2008 and in 2010. In September 2012, YouTube was made inaccessible for more than two years.
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