Twitter continues to trend with multiple hashtags demanding Prime Minister Imran Khan to unban PUBG in Pakistan. These Twitter trends include #ImranKhanKhulwaoPUBG, #imrankhanresignkaro, #ImranKhanJawabDou and #WaqarZaka have garnered over one million Tweets so far.
PUBG was banned in Pakistan on 1 July 2020 by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) who called the online multiplayer game a wastage of time and having negative influence on the youth without even consulting any psychologist.
However, Islamabad High Court (IHC) last week ordered PTA for immediate unban of PUBG and restoration of services which has been denied by the regulatory authority saying that it has the right to ban or filter content based on Section 37 of PECA 2016.
Read more: PUBG ban in Pakistan Update: PTA will not unban the game.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has now started moral policing the general population deciding what users can and cannot do on the internet.
This behavior has been opposed by the Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry who says that PTA and the courts should abandon this ban culture before it does irreversible damage to the digital development in the country.
Read more: Fawad Chaudhry opposes courts & PTA for ban on internet apps.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) completely ignores the fact that eSports is a billion dollar industry and banning an important game is a big blow towards the progression of the country in this gaming industry.
PTA has become an organization where the officials only care about their own personal opinion and have complete disregard for the majority. The officials sitting behind the desk claim they received several complaints to put a ban on PUBG however, these same officials fail to see the millions of requests being made to unban PUBG in Pakistan.
Netizens are now asking why authorities are silent despite these millions of requests to unban PUBG. It’s like the regulatory authority doesn’t want to listen or acknowledge anyone or any opinion it does not agree with and holds its on opinion as final and fixed.
Where there are disadvantages to something, there are also advantages but the PTA completely fails to acknowledge that in its pursuit of moral policing everyone.
This may be just one game but banning it has proved to be lethal for the eSports industry here in Pakistan. Yesterday, an international organization called Vega eSports announced that it will be wrapping up operations in Pakistan due to the uncertain future of the gaming industry in the country.
This is just a start as Pakistani teams will no longer get sponsorship in International Tournaments if this keeps happening. Many people who are supporting PTA and its decision to ban PUBG are ones with no knowledge of gaming and how big of a business it has become.
People argue there is no future in gaming but fail to look at those who have already made a career out of it. Sumail Hassan in a Pakistani gamer with total earnings of over $3.5 million at the aged 21 making him the top 10 people in the world with the highest eSports earning and instead of supporting this industry, PTA is now destroying it.
Another example is Arslan Ash who was named eSports Player of the year in the international gaming area but apparently it doesn’t matter since it goes against personal beliefs of PTA officials and we all know, nobody can go against PTA, not even the court since PTA straight up defied court orders for immediate restoration of the game.
There are a trend with #WeStandWithPTA that started trending this morning but failed miserably accumulating only a little over 40,000 tweets whereas the opposing side was able to take over the Twitter trends.
Here are just some of the Tweets and everyone is asking who made Major General (R) Amir Azeem Bajwa the Chairman for Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) with no experience or previous knowledge in the field.
Read more: Over 1 million Tweets asking PM IK to unban PUBG in Pakistan.
