National security more important than internet: Shaza Fatima
Pakistan
Speaking in the National Assembly on the suspension of internet service, Shaza justified blocking X
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Minister of State for Information Technology (IT) Shaza Fatima said on the floor of the house on Wednesday that national security was a priority for her.
Speaking in the National Assembly on the suspension of internet service, Shaza justified blocking X, formerly Twitter, saying that less than two percent Pakistanis use the app.
“The enemy is always ready for cyber-attacks. We have to stop these cyber-attacks. The PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) has to stop material on religious and social content as these are sensitive issues and such content causes hatred in our society. We have to keep our citizens safe,” she added.
“Nothing is more important than national security,” the state minister said and added that the regulatory system comes into play on security concerns.
“I don’t have a button to shut down the internet. We neither get pleasure nor benefit from it.”
She said that internet services in specific areas were shut down on the basis of data provided by provincial home offices.
It did not affect the entire country. “We try to ensure that users of the technology suffer the least inconvenience. I apologize for the inconvenience caused to users,” Shaza continued.
The minister of state said that steps would be taken to protect our data from cyber-attacks.
“X was shut down on the instructions of the Interior Ministry. The closure of X has nothing to do with freedom of expression. If we had to curb the freedom of expression, TikTok and Facebook would not have been working either.”
Shaza said that “the language used against us is unbearable.”
