X Suspended in Pakistan: Sindh High Court Asks Interior Ministry To Revoke X Closure Letter Within a Week

The Sindh High Court (SHC) Wednesday, April 17, directed the Ministry of Interior of Pakistan to revoke its letter regarding suspension of social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, within one week.

SHC Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi asked the Interior Ministry while hearing multiple petitions filed by Zarrar Khuhro, Jibran Nasir and others, "What are you achieving via shutting down trivial things? The world must laugh at us."

Pakistan's Geo News reports, "The Sindh High Court (SHC) Wednesday directed the Ministry of Interior to revoke its letter regarding suspension of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, within one week."

— ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2024

The SHC chief justice's remarks come as X, which is used by millions of Pakistanis, has been suspended since February 2024 owing to the government's decision to curb access to the social media platform citing national security threats. 

In March, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) told the court that it blocked the Elon Musk-owned X after receiving directions from the Ministry of Interior and intelligence agencies.

The PTA said that the directions for temporarily suspending mobile internet data service, social media websites and applications are only issued by the said ministry after careful consideration of all the relevant reports and circumstances.