The Sindh High Court (SHC) has mandated continuous internet access for all citizens until the February 8 general elections. This directive came on Wednesday, with the court specifically instructing authorities to avoid suspending internet services. The respondents are required to submit their responses by January 29.
Background of the Petition and Internet Outages
Human rights activist Jibran Nasir filed a petition in the SHC against Pakistan’s frequent internet suspensions. With the approaching elections, multiple internet outages have affected crucial social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. The most recent outage on January 20 was the second in just two weeks.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) attributed the nationwide internet disruptions to a “technical fault” in its optic fibre network. This explanation was posted on their official account, ensuring the issue was promptly fixed and services restored.
Read: Internet Disruptions in Pakistan Amid PTI Virtual Events – Netblocks Reports
A report by the Institute of Research, Advocacy and Development (IRADA) highlights Pakistan’s deteriorating state of media freedoms. “Under Siege: Legislative, Judicial and Executive Actions Stifling Freedom of Expression and Right to Information” forms part of an annual series on digital journalism. The report indicates that the PTA blocked over 1.1 million URLs, including 187 mobile applications. Many of these blocks were for reasons such as contempt of court, defence of Pakistan, or sectarian/hate speech.
Additionally, the report reveals numerous content removal requests from the Pakistani government to major tech platforms. For instance, Meta restricted access in Pakistan to over 12,000 items reported by the PTA between January 2021 and June 2022 for violating local laws.
