TWITTER SEE-SAW: Services Shut Down Again in Pakistan Despite Court Assurance

Twitter services in Pakistan were shut down once more, just an hour after being restored, despite assurances from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) lawyer in the Sindh High Court that the shutdown notification had been withdrawn.

Earlier, the PTA’s counsel informed the court that the notification had been withdrawn, and the court noted that this meant Twitter had been reinstated. However, users in Pakistan reported that Twitter was still inaccessible without a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

The court heard petitions against Twitter’s closure and expressed concern over the PTA’s contradictory statements. The PTA’s lawyer, Ahsan Imam, confirmed the withdrawal of the shutdown notification, but another PTA lawyer, Saad Siddiqui, claimed he had no knowledge of the withdrawal.

The court adjourned the hearing of related applications for two weeks, criticizing the PTA for appointing separate lawyers for each application and creating confusion.