A dangerous digital crackdown

Pakistani authorities have announced that they intend to establish a new state agency, the Digital Rights Protection Authority (DRPA), to tighten government control over online content. The new body, if approved by parliament, will be authorised to prosecute people for sharing or accessing prohibited content, and take action against social media platforms that host such content.

An adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted on X that amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) are intended to “eliminate misinformation and negative propaganda against state institutions.” But in reality, X remains banned in Pakistan, along with thousands of other websites. Presumably, the adviser used a VPN to post on X – the government is also clamping down on VPNs.

The new proposals come in the larger context of frequent internet shutdowns and throttling of internet networks in Pakistan. Denying or limiting access to the internet has become a default policing tactic by Pakistani authorities to shut down protests and prevent criticism of the government, under the guise of maintaining law and order and curbing misinformation.

The impact has been catastrophic. According to Statista, internet shutdowns in 2023 caused a loss of $237.6 million to Pakistan’s economy – which can ill afford such a blow – and affected almost 83 million Pakistanis; that's about one-third of the country. Complete and partial internet shutdowns increased in 2024, with government justifications and excuses ranging from repairs to undersea internet cables, to people using VPNs, to the government testing a new internet firewall.

Limiting access to the internet undermines the human rights of the hundreds of millions of people in Pakistan. Shutdowns are incompatible with international human rights law, and restrictions on online advocacy of democratic values and human rights are never permissible under international standards.

Rather than curbing 'fake news', internet shutdowns and social media restrictions provide an enabling environment for misinformation and disinformation. Limiting internet access during times of conflict, protests, or public health emergencies restricts the availability of vital, timely, and potentially life-saving information. Shutdowns can exacerbate existing social and political tensions, potentially instigate or conceal violence and human rights abuses by state and non-state actors, and impede the work of human rights defenders and journalists, denying people access to credible, verifiable information.

As governments continue to digitise and automate core public services, internet access has and will increasingly become vital to ensure rights to social security, education, health, work and food, among others. In Pakistan, most shutdowns involve cutting mobile internet access for a geographic area. This translates into an internet blackout for most of the population living in the country because people in Pakistan generally access the internet only on mobile devices. Mobile connectivity is even more critical in rural areas, where access to fixed-line internet is extremely limited. Shutdowns make it much harder for rural communities to conduct basic banking, pay utility bills, and apply for and access official documents.

Pakistani laws justifying internet shutdowns use overbroad language and lack adequate safeguards to ensure that they adhere to principles of necessity and proportionality. There is no effective accountability mechanism or judicial and parliamentary oversight, allowing the government to frequently misuse this powerful information-limiting tool without appropriate justification. The authorities increasingly use broad and sweeping measures to curb the internet in the face of political crises as a form of collective punishment.

Pakistan is obligated to protect and promote the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly, and access to information. by international conventions to which it is a party, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

International human rights bodies such as the United Nations Human Rights Council have strongly condemned internet shutdowns. UN Human Rights Council Resolution 47/16 denounces “the use of internet shutdowns to intentionally and arbitrarily prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information.” The UN secretary-general and human rights experts have also affirmed that “blanket internet shutdowns and generic blocking and filtering of services are considered by United Nations human rights mechanisms to be in violation of international human rights law.”

Establishing yet another unchecked authority to throttle access to the internet is not the answer to Pakistan’s political crisis but is in fact the latest evidence of the ongoing erosion of the fundamental rights and liberties to which everyone in Pakistan is entitled.

The writer is associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch.