National Firewall System upgradation was approved in March 2019 during PTI Govt : PTA Chairman

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

He said the PC-1 for the NFS upgradation was approved in March 2019, when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was ruling the country. He also said that social media messaging service X, formerly twitter, was banned for not complying with the directives issued by the interior ministry, as there was a defined mechanism to slap a ban or remove content on social media under the law of the land. Under the Web Management System, it is the mandate of PTA to comply with the orders of the executive or superior courts and cited examples that they removed contents related to pornography or blasphemy.

The PTA chairman briefed the standing committee of senate and said that the NFS or WMS was installed in the 1990s and there was a requirement to upgrade it with time. He said that the upgradation of WMS was approved in March 2019, but it could not be done due to scarcity of funds.

It is called a firewall in China and it is known as Web Management System generally. During the PTI government, it was called 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 standing near to shutting down contents. The PTA, he said, adhered to instructions given by the government or courts. He said that 97,000 sites were blocked.