LAHORE: Punjab Inf­ormation Minister Azma Bokhari has said the government may lift the ban on X (formerly Twitter) if social media rules and regulations are framed.

“We are not against social media, but we are talking about rules and regulations. If the (social media) rules and regulations are made, the ban on X will be removed,” Ms Bokhari told journalists here on Friday.

The Shehbaz government had shut down X in February this year following allegations of change of general election results by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The federal government, however, had defended the ban on the popular social media platform, saying that the move was “legitimate” when it came to addressing national security concerns.

Ms Bokhari further said that many countries had laws governing social media. “In every country laws are made to solve the problems and freedom of expression is abused. There are distorted traditions in our society,” she said and added the social media accounts were regulated all over the world.

Punjab minister says govt backs ‘regulated’ social media

“Digital terrorism is carried out through social media accounts. All accou­nts must be governed by the rules and regulations,” the minister declared.

About the PTI’s incarcerated founder, Ms Bokhari said: “Imran Khan is mentally disturbed in jail. On the one hand, he is saying that the army should appoint its representative for talks with the PTI, and on the other, he is saying that Mohsin Naqvi is the representative of the army.”

She said, “Imran Khan should apologise first [over May 9 incidents]. Let him first admit that they have done all this and he has made a mistake.”

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2024