———- PTI to challenge govt’s decision permitting ISI to tap phones
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The federal government has given its nod to the country’s premier spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to intercept and trace calls and messages in the apprehension of an offence against national security.
The federal cabinet has approved the relevant circular allowing a designated officer of the ISI to carry out the tracing of calls under Section 54 of the Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act 1996. How-ever, the officer nominated by the agency cannot be of less than grade 18.
The aforementioned section of the Telecommunications Act allows the federal government to author-ise any person or persons to intercept calls and messages or to trace calls through any telecommunica-tion system in the interest of national security.
It also states that the government will have preference and priority in the telecommunication system over any licensee for the defence or security of the country against any foreign aggression.
“The federal government in the interest of national security and in the apprehension of any offence is pleased to authorise the officers […] to be nominated from time to time by ISI to intercept calls and messages or to trace calls through any communication system,” read the notification issued by the Ministry of Information on Monday.
The move comes against the back drop of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government’s steps to-wards stricter social media regulations citing national security concerns and the prevailing ban on popu-lar social media platform X.
In May, PM Shehbaz approved a draft to amend the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016 which suggested the establishment of a Digital Rights Protection Authority.
Moreover, the government is also installing a national firewall on different internet service providers (ISPs) to rein in social media with filters capable of blocking unwanted content from reaching a wider audience, The News reported on June 7.
The latest firewall will be used to inspect information originating from different internet protocol ad-dresses.
“The national firewall will serve two purposes: identify the locations from where the propaganda ma-terial is being originated and the subsequent blockade or diminished coverage of those accounts”. He added: “But, I think the main focus will remain on locating the source of such propaganda to nip the evil in the bud,” said an official who was aware of the information.
There will be a keyword filtering system to detect content the government considers undesirable or prejudicial to national security etc. The filter will act like an information inspector. These kinds of posts will likely be camouflaged and will subsequently be made invisible to outside users.
Posts from all dissenting voices in and out of the country are likely to pass through this inspection be-fore they are allowed to be made properly visible.
This filter will run its check on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and X (formerly known as Twitter). Preparation is also in progress to prevent the ‘misuse’ of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) as the government can declare it mandatory for citizens to inform the PTA about the VPNs they are us-ing. Anyone failing to do that could land in trouble.
When approached by Geo Fact Check for comments, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) as well as Minister of State for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja, the latter did not issue any response.
However, ministry spokesperson Jameel Ahmed said that the implementation of the firewall fell with-in the “domain of the PTA”.
Contrastingly, the PTA spokesperson claimed that “ministry’s project” and only they could respond to questions about the firewall.
Moreover, the PTA, earlier this month, proposed a new regulatory framework requiring all Over-The-Top (OTT) services, including YouTube, Netflix, WhatsApp, Facebook, and X to register locally for a pe-riod of 15 years.
According to a 14-page draft available on its website, the PTA recommends that OTT Communication Services operating in Pakistan obtain a 15-year license from the regulatory body.
If implemented, OTT services would need to comply with the new authorisation framework within 12 months, after which services without the PTA authorisation would be considered illegal, according to the draft.
Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insad (PTI) has announced its intention to challenge the government’s no-tification which granted Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to intercept and trace calls in the “interest of national security”.
Earlier today, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication authorised the intelli-gence wing to tap phones, stating that this authority was granted under Section 54 of the Pakistan Tel-ecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 1996.
The Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan noted that the government, via SRO 1005 (I)/2024 issued a notification allowing the ISI to tap any person’s phone conversation on the pretext of “national security”.
He slammed the government, saying, “Only a fascist government would grant an intelligence agency complete authority to tap citizens’ phones.
“Shehbaz Sharif has practically cut his own throat with this decision,” the PTI leader alleged, declaring that the move could backfire and may have great consequences.
He further condemned the decision stating that, “This SRO will be the tool the ISI uses to blackmail and subjugate all politicians and media persons, including Bilawal Bhutto, Asif Zardari, and Maryam Nawaz.”
The PTI leader announced his intention to challenge the notification in court through his lawyer, Dr Ba-bar Awan.
“This SRO is unconstitutional and against the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution,” he protested.
The government’s notification read, “In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 54 … the fed-eral government in the interest of national security and in the apprehension of any offence, is pleased to authorise the officers not below the rank of grade 18 to be nominated from time to time by the In-ter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to intercept calls and messages or to trace calls through any telecommu-nication system as envisaged under Section 54 of the Act.”
In December, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was informed during a hearing on a case concerning au-dio leaks that the government had not authorized any intelligence agency to tap audio conversations
