LAHORE: A full bench of the Lahore High Court on Thursday sought explanation from the federal government to resolve the issue of unblocking X (formerly Twitter) and gave a final opportunity to the government for it.
A full bench headed by Chief Justice Aalia Neelum remarked, “If the responsibility lies with the cabinet, its head will be summoned and adjourned the hearing till April 8 for further proceedings.
The bench hearing a petition against the blocking of X also warned Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) of issuing a contempt of court notice.
Ban on social media platform ‘X’: LHC seeks report from Ministry, PTA
Earlier, a law officer informed the court that the government had no formal agreement with X.
The bench questioned, “If there is no agreement, why would X provide the required information?”
The law officer stated that according to the Ministry of Interior, there was no system to monitor how government institutions were using X.
He said an email had been sent to X management regarding the issue.
One of the bench members asked a PTA counsel, what action can be taken in case of violation by an X account of any restriction imposed by the authority.
PTA’s counsel said the PTA cannot confirm with certainty who owns a specific account.
He said the ministry instructed the PTA to block X under the web monitoring system.
The judge asked the chairman present in the court, whether the PTA’s X account was operational and if it was, then how was it functioning.
The PTA chairman initially admitted that the authority itself uses VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) to access the X.
However, later, he sought an apology, saying his director general informed him about the PTA using X.
The Chief Justice expressed concern over the chairman for giving an irresponsible statement before the court.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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