Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Maj Gen (R) Hafeezur Rehman addresses at an event on August 6, 2024. — Facebook/Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Maj Gen (R) Hafeezur Rehman admitted on Wednesday that the upgradation of the National Firewall System (NFS) or Web Management System (WMS) was underway for controlling or removing contents from social media, following directions received from executives or courts.

In March 2019, during the rule of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), they approved the PC-1 for the NFS upgrade. They also banned the social media messaging service X, previously known as Twitter, for not complying with the directives issued by the interior ministry. They stated that there is a defined mechanism to impose a ban or remove content on social media according to the law of the land. Under the Web Management System, it is the mandate of the PTA to comply with the orders of the executive or superior courts and cite examples that they removed content related to pornography or blasphemy.

However, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology unanimously rejected slowing down of internet or banning social media platforms. They directed the Ministry of IT to come up with exact estimates of losses faced by the IT sector, in collaboration with the sector specialists and Pakistan Software Houses Association (PASHA). The NA Standing Committee on IT & Telecom held its meeting under the chairmanship of Aminul Haq here at the Ministry of IT on Wednesday. The PTA chairman briefed the committee, stating that the NFS or WMS, installed in the 1990s, requires an upgrade. He mentioned that the upgrade of WMS was approved in March 2019 but could not be completed due to a lack of funds.

In China, the system is commonly known as the Web Management System, while it is referred to as a firewall.

However, the PTI government called it the National Firewall System in 2019. “I am saying on oath we have done nothing to slow down the internet,” he added. He said shutting down contents of any social media platforms occurred 84 times in India, 18 times in Iran, and one time in Pakistan during 2022, while in 2023 it occurred seven times in Pakistan, 116 times in India, and 34 times in Iran. Pakistan is nowhere near shutting down contents. The PTA, he said, adhered to instructions given by the government or courts. He said that 97,000 sites were blocked.

The Opposition Leader in the National Assembly and PTI member, Omar Ayub, questioned whether intelligence agencies such as ISI, MI, IB, and Special Branch have the authority to bypass the PTA and access private communications. Specifically, he inquired about the surveillance of phone calls by these agencies. He alleged that Imran Khan had refused to install a firewall during his time in office. Omar Ayub also asked about the criteria that the PTA followed when complying with government directives. Some members of the ruling party also said that criticizing intelligence agencies was not right. During PTI’s previous term, some entities falsely filed FIRs against the agencies, incorrectly targeting them.

The PTA chairman provided specific dates for approving the installation of a firewall and noted that they could not implement it during the PTI tenure. When this government came to power, it implemented the upgrade of WMS. The PTA chairman publicly declared during the proceedings, “I have given the vote to PTI’s Asad Qaiser as I belong to KP province.” The chairman also stated that they installed the firewall in the 1990s, and it had nothing to do with the recent events in the country.

The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on IT also sought from the ministries, departments concerned details of powers of secret agencies to trespass the authority and domain of other departments.

The PTA chairman claimed that a single affected submarine cable did not cause an internet slowdown in the country. However, he made a startling disclosure that India’s Modi spent $13 billion for promoting the ICT sector in the last three years, but in Pakistan, there was not a penny to utilize on development projects.

He also endorsed a proposal given by the MNAs for asking the government to come up with comprehensive legislation to handle the increasing trend of social media and the internet through a combined law instead of applying different laws and adopting a piecemeal approach.

About the launch of 5G technology, the PTA chairman said they were targeting to accomplish the launch by April 2025, keeping in view the requirements of PPRA rules. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia auctioned its spectrum for $95,000, Bangladesh auctioned for $6.5 million, and Pakistan auctioned the last spectrum for $29 per MHz. The NA panel recommended adopting the approach of fair competitive prices and implementing the Bangladeshi model.