Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has dispelled the prejudicedimpression created by the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) and its membersregarding the “Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure,Oversight, and Safeguards), Rules 2020.”

PTA spokesperson said that the rules titled “The Removal and Blocking ofUnlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight, and Safeguards), Rules 2020”have been notified by the Federal Government vide notification datedNovember 27, 2020. These rules have been framed as a statutory requirementunder Section 37 (2) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA).——————————

ing, the Committee and the AIC exchanged views, and the AIC submitted aresponse regarding the consultation framework. AIC members Facebook,Google, and Twitter, were also approached for consultation individually, asdesired by the AIC. Google and Facebook participated in the consultationprocess on June 26 and 29, 2020, respectively.

“Hence, AIC’s stance that meaningful consultation was not carried out ismisleading and against the facts,” said PTA.

“Since timelines were to be followed by the Committee for finalization ofits report based on the Honourable Islamabad High Court order dated12-09-2019 and Federal Government directions vide Consultation Committeenotification dated February 28, 2020, the process could not be keptopen-ended and prolonged indefinitely,” it added.