PTA clarification: web monitoring.

Byline: Khurram A. Mehran - Islamabad

WITH regard to the news appearing in a section of the media, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) wishes to clarify that, in order to meet statutory and policy obligations, Telecom industry as per their licence obligations was asked by the PTA in 2017 to deploy a suitable system capable of monitoring/analysing internet traffic. Furthermore, the honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Lahore High Court have both instructed the PTA in separate cases to deploy technical systems for combating grey traffic and filtering objectionable Internet content respectively.

Any perception regarding Web Monitoring Systems (WMS) curtailing privacy or limiting the freedom of internet users is false. This system will facilitate in the identification and eradication of grey traffic causing huge loss to the national...