National Assembly summons PTA chairman for social media and internet disruptions

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly on IT has summoned the chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Hafiz Rehman, to explain the ongoing social media and internet disruptions across the country. The meeting has been called on August 21 at the Parliament House, headed by Amin ul Haq, while the AGP is also invited.

Pakistan faces social media and internet disruption without known cause

The question comes at a time when the entire Pakistan is facing internet service disruption and weak mobile signals with unknown causes. Preliminary reports suggested that the matter could link up with international traffic problems rather than domestic network faults. However, PTCL officials preliminarily declared a fault in an underground submarine cable as a cause that has affected services across the country.

Despite these disturbances, Meta platforms—Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram—continue to remain operative. To make this even more complicated, the Pakistan government decided to install a nationwide firewall across ISPs after the Punjab government enacted the Defamation Law 2024.

This will be the firewall equipped with DPI technology that will monitor and filter data all the way up to the seventh layer. This system shall be used in controlling content through blocking propaganda and prevention of access to proscribed material. The ISPs are obligated to install the firewall with partial financial aid from the government.

Such a firewall will have the capability to block data at the IP level, and the ISPs will have no choice but to fall in line with government measures to block illegal content as part of licensing agreements. The move has created grave apprehensions over internet freedom and the increasing control of the Pakistani government over cyberspace.