Over 1.5m URLs blocked during current year: PTA chairman

ISLAMABAD: Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Maj General Hafeez Ur Rehman (retd) has said that during the current year, more than 1.5 million URLs had been blocked, including 6,042 related to defamation and impersonation and 13,780 pertaining to immoral content across various online platforms.

He stated this In a meeting of the Special Committee on Gender Mainstreaming held under the chairpersonship of MNA Dr. Nafisa Shah.

The PTA chairman disclosed that 5,000 unauthorized SIMs had been identified and blocked. The panel underscored the need for enhanced coordination with international digital platforms and the development of stronger policies to ensure platform accountability.

Nafisa Shah took serious notice of recent judicial interpretations whereby convictions for rape were converted into convictions for fornication on the presumptions of consent, and in the absence of separate complaints or charges. She observed that such interpretations risk diluting the safeguards and protections enacted by Parliament, particularly through the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2006, which had corrected earlier vague and discriminatory legal provisions.

The panel noted with grave concern that these interpretations expose complainants of sexual violence to stigma, legal vulnerability, and potential criminal liability, thereby creating a chilling effect on reporting and access to justice for women. Accordingly, the Committee called upon the Government to ensure a judicial review of the controversial interpretation so that the Constitution and the spirit and letter of the law—particularly the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2006—are upheld.

The Committee also conducted a historic and first-ever parliamentary hearing on the issue of “Digital Violence against Women in Pakistan: Safeguarding Rights in the Digital Age.”While introducing the subject, the Chairperson, Dr. Nafisa Shah, stated that digital violence represents an emerging and dangerous dimension of gender-based violence. She emphasized the urgent need to assess the scale and nature of digital abuse against women, identify gaps in law, policy, enforcement, and victim support mechanisms, and to hear evidence from relevant ministries, institutions, experts, and victims.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025