Open internet

It has been almost half a year since the government abruptly blocked X (formerly Twitter) in Pakistan. A platform that has around four million users from Pakistan (1.7 per cent of the population) suddenly became a threat to national security and government sovereignty, leading to the unjustified blockade of the social networking app. But it did not stop there. Now, the government is installing a firewall to filter out the content before it gets on the internet – Pakistani internet, that is. While the general discourse is that political polarization is so dangerously high in the country that the government has to resort to surveillance tactics to prevent the country’s fall into anarchy, the situation is not that simple. Political content is perhaps the cloak that the government has happily grabbed to hide its initial flaws that led the country to this point where the state is using all it can to make the internet less encrypted. But while doing so, it is going against the very nature of the digital ecosystem. Surveillance also makes people’s sensitive data – national ID and bank details – vulnerable to attacks. In a country where data breaches are already an unfortunate reality, paring back digital security checkpoints will lead to more panic and unrest among people.

Over the last few weeks, ordinary people have suffered a lot as the government tested out the firewall framework. Slow internet means that remote workers cannot smoothly work on their projects, risking their reputation in the international market. Small video clips require quite a few minutes to buffer, taking people back to more than a decade ago when internet penetration was still limited in the country. The government has to understand that the digital age does not wait for countries that carry the baggage of internal problems. The world is moving ahead and if we are left behind, we may fail to keep up with technological advancements.

For most people in Pakistan, digital tools and the internet have played a crucial role in uplifting people’s socio-economic conditions. Many low-income households have turned to the digital economy to make a decent living. Now, with a firewall in place, social media applications that give a money-making platform to content creators will also face disruptions, making it difficult for people to use the platforms. This is not hurting anyone but our own people who are already facing the economic pressure caused by ever-increasing prices and high taxes. While the government should be allowed to strictly check any illegal activities going on in the digital landscape, it is very important to not sabotage the digital infrastructure while doing so. Our government is taking inspiration from countries that have strong digital infrastructure in place. Pakistan has to decide between embracing the digital age and staying stuck in decade-old policies and governance.