PUBG: National Standing Committee on IT opposes ban

Parliamentarians from government as well as opposition parties observed that blocking everything is not the solution to problems. It was deliberated that instead of restricting the whole map it would be reasonable to restrict the contents.

“It would be better to regulate social media forums instead of closing them down”, said Kanwal Shauzab. Young people have a lot of reservations about the ban on PUBG. By shutting down YouTube, PubG we go into isolation.

Banning opportunities that are a source of money and foreign exchange should be considered, said Kanwal Shauzaib. You can not shut down a platform, said Zain Qureshi, adding that the case of suicide is yet to be decided as the children committed suicide due to pubG or not.

PTA official said that two children commit suicide after not being allowed to open PUBG. Committee members objected while saying that the game is still being run by installing proxies, DG Web PTA said that around 14000 proxies have been cloased but more are opened. The PUBG will remain closed until the inquiry report on the children suicide is received, he added.

He further said that government has asked PUBG for some details. We are not closing it completely. PUBG should be brought into the regulatory framework, Member PTA added.

They further said that the court did not order to open the PUBG. The Authority has issued a detailed decision and asked PUBG for some details. Further negotiations are underway with PUBG for registration in Pakistan and a final order will be issued on PUBG, PTA officials added.

There is a solution to all the problems in social media rules, said Secretary IT Shoaib Siddiqui, adding that under the rules, all these platforms can be negotiated. He further said social media laws were criticized for no reason. He further said social media rules were objected to but the time is proving them right.

It is very important to regulate social media, said Jadoon, adding that the question is, will we be able to enforce these rules?  PTA officials said that regulating social media may help.

Siddiqui said that a committee was formed on the rules and it gave its recommendations in two months. The Prime Minister had given 10 weeks till September to prepare the rules, said Siddiqui, adding that members of the committee can also give their suggestions in these rules.

The rules have been updated and sent back to the advisory committee for approval, said PTA officials, adding that the rules are expected to be ready by mid-August.

Once there is a mutual treaty, PTA can regulate them, said officials, adding that currently content can be removed under Article 37A. Content that comes from Pakistan is possible, but content from abroad is not possible without a treaty, officials added.

Secretary IT said that it is necessary to improve the performance of FIA. The FIA needs human resources and equipment, said Siddiqui.

Foreign Office official briefing the committee on Budapest Treaty and MLA said that Budapest Convention is a European convention that suits their circumstances. He further said that there is no data protection law in Pakistan. With the Budapest Convention, we will have to share our data with other countries, says Foreign Office Director, adding that with these agreements, we will have to share most of our data with companies abroad.

“We will not benefit from Budapest conventions and MLAs, said Foreign Office Director, adding that a MLA law is going to be in lace in Pakistan which is important.

There is an issue going on at the UN level on the Budapest and we want to give our input in it, said the Director adding that there is need to create a cyber crime center. The committee members unanimously agreed to have consultation regarding establishment of a central level body to oversee the cooperation of different government institutions to counter cyber crime.

The committee members suggested for capacity building of FIA to increasing cyber crime in the country. The Committee unanimously agreed that the underserved areas be given priority by telecom a provider for this Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication was asked to take up the issue with the telecom providers.

The Secretary  IT&T informed that Telecom industry had taken a lot of initiatives especially during COVID 19 especially regarding online business, provision of Online services across the country especially online classes and online business, spreading awareness regarding COVID-19, marinating connectivity across the country. He informed the house that exports revenue related with IT had increased exponentially and Pakistan was at 3rd in terms of free lancing. Secretary IT briefed the house to upgrade the IT underserved areas through Universal Service Fund.

The meeting was attended by MNAs, Sahibzada Sibghatullah, Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi, Muhammad Aslam Khan, Kanwal Shauzab, Nusrat Wahid, Romina Khurshid Alam, Shamim Ara Panhwar, Mahesh Kumar Malani, Syed Mehmood Shah and other officers of concerned departments.