Has the Social Media Firewall Been Shut Down?
Kawish Hussain
February 23, 2026
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Telecom operators have rejected reports claiming that a government installed firewall had been shut down, terming the assertions baseless and inaccurate.
Telecom firms are saying the chatter about a government installed firewall being turned off is pure bunk.
Social media lit up with claims that the state had pulled the plug on a system supposedly used to keep an eye on online platforms after it “failed to deliver”. The story even got a few media outlets to bite.
When reporters rang the operators, the answer was blunt: no one has asked us to shut anything down. The firewall gear on their networks is still humming along.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) jumped in, too. They made it clear the regulator never ran a firewall of its own. Instead, they pointed to the Web Management System (a tool) that’s been around for about twenty years, meant to curb grey traffic and block illegal content. According to PTA staff, that system is still part of the routine playbook and has not