Major General Hafiz Rahman, Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), has expressed his views on the suspension of social media platform X in Pakistan.
Speaking on a private television program, Chairman PTA Major General (Retired) Hafiz Rahman stated that the Ministry of Interior has not issued any directives regarding X’s suspension, but that someone should accept responsibility for the situation.
He stated that in the country, directives for the suspension of social media platforms are always issued by the Ministry of Interior, as are the rules. When asked, he stated that there is currently no written documentation regarding X’s suspension.
Major General (Retired) Hafiz Rahman, Chairman of the PTA, stated that they will discuss the X suspension with the Ministry of Interior, and any confusion should be resolved.
The chairman of the PTA said, “I ask my staff that my internet is working, I don’t have any VPN, so what is this confusion?” He stated that efforts are being made to clear up the confusion surrounding this matter. He went on to say that on Election Day, February 8, a meeting was held at Aftab Durrani’s office at 5 a.m.
All security agencies were present at the meeting, and there were concerns about what might occur. Chairman PTA stated that when we received orders to shut down the internet, we officially tweeted about it.
The social media platform X has been suspended in Pakistan for the past month. X’s service has been restored for 10 to 15 minutes on several occasions over the last month. Pakistani users use VPNs to access the microblogging platform.
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