The Sindh High Court (SHC) has issued an important directive mandating uninterrupted internet access for all citizens until the upcoming general elections on February 8.
In an order issued on Wednesday, the high court explicitly prohibited the authorities from suspending internet services. It has also directed the relevant parties to submit their responses by January 29.
Uninterrupted Internet Access
Jibran Nasir, an advocate and dedicated human rights activist, took the initiative to file a petition with the SHC regarding the country’s recurring issue of internet service suspensions.
With political campaigns gaining traction ahead of the upcoming elections next month, users have experienced numerous internet outages in recent days.
Notably, a second round of social media platform outages occurred on January 20th, affecting platforms such as Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
Following a major disruption last week, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) blamed the nationwide internet outage on a “technical fault” in its optic fibre network.
Here’s what the PTA said in a public statement about X:
The recent disruption in internet services was caused by a technical fault, which has been promptly rectified. Internet services have been fully restored nationwide.
Reports from DownDetector
According to reports from DownDetector, the global web outage tracker, the outage affected not only Google services but also the operations of PTCL, an internet service provider.
Advocate Jibran Nasir stated that these outages have recently been used to censor Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) election campaigns, and that the party deserves a fair chance at the upcoming general elections.
To read our blog on “PIA privatization process faces legal hurdles and challenges,” click here
