- By Radha Basnet
- Wed, 10 Jul 2024 11:38 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Pakistani government has granted the country's premier intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), expanded powers to intercept and trace phone calls for national security purposes. The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication issued a formal notification on Tuesday authorising ISI officers above a certain rank to monitor telecommunications systems.
"In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 54… the federal 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 Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to intercept calls and messages or to trace calls through any telecommunication system as envisaged under Section 54 of the Act," the notification read.
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The government will prioritise and have precedence over any licensee in the telecommunications system to safeguard national defence and security against foreign threats, the notification added.
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. This move appears to be part of the government's broader efforts to tighten control over social media and digital communications.
The notification followed after the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formally decided at the cabinet level to allow the ISI to trace and record calls. Earlier in May, PM Shehbaz had also approved a draft to amend the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, which suggested the establishment of a Digital Rights Protection Authority.
Responding to the recent authorisation given to ISI, PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan warned that the government and its allies should be aware that the same actions will be used against their leaders once they are out of power. "They will be roaming around the courts when hit by the measures they are instituting now," he said.
(With PTI Inputs)