A Pakistan High Court, on Wednesday, ruled that the government must restore social media platform X within one week.
This was revealed by a lawyer after more than two months of inaccessibility on the order of the interior ministry.
The platform, formerly known as Twitter, has been rarely accessible since February 17, when jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party called for protests against a government official’s admission of vote manipulation in February’s election.
Pakistan’s communications authority later revealed via court papers that it had been ordered by the Interior Ministry to shut the site down.
“The Sindh High Court has given the government one week to withdraw the letter, failing which, on the next date, they will pass appropriate orders,” Moiz Jaaferi, a lawyer challenging the ban, told AFP.
The Interior Ministry said X was blocked on security grounds, according to a report submitted to Islamabad High Court in a separate challenge to the shutdown and shared with media.
“It is the sole prerogative and domain of the federal government to decide what falls within the preview of terms of ‘defence’ or ‘security’ of Pakistan and what steps are necessary to be taken to safeguard National Security,” said the report, submitted by Interior Secretary Khurram Agha.
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