ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government is throttling the internet and social media while it tests new controls to crush dissent, activists and business leaders say, putting the country’s economic recovery at risk.

Internet networks have been up to 40 per cent slower than normal since July, according to one IT association, while documents, images and voice notes have been disrupted on WhatsApp, used by tens of millions of people.

Digital rights experts believe the state is testing a ‘firewall’ — a security system that monitors network traffic but can also be used to control online spaces.

“The Internet slowdown is due to the installation of a national firewall and content filtering system by the state aimed at increasing surveillance and at censoring political dissent, especially the criticism of the security establishment for its interference in politics,” digital rights expert and activist Usama Khilji told AFP.

The authorities appear to be targeting WhatsApp because of its end-to-end encryption capabilities, which enable users to securely share information without it being accessed by any third party, he added.

The government and the telecommunications authority for weeks refused to comment on the slowdown.

Pakistan Telecommunications Authority declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Not business as usual

The issues have surfaced as Pakistan’s military — the country’s most powerful institution — says it is battling the so-called “digital terrorism”.

Regular rallies have been held this year demanding the state do more to tackle militant violence in the border regions with Afghanistan, while protesters in southwestern Balochistan have rallied over alleged rights abuses by authorities in their crackdown on separatist groups.

But analysts say the main target of the digital disruption is the party of jailed opposition leader Imran Khan, still wildly popular and boosted by a young, tech-savvy voter base.

Prominent Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir has launched a legal challenge against the government over “the apparent installation of a firewall” at Islamabad High Court, which is due to hear the case on Monday.

The firewall’s “inexplicable opacity and ambiguity” is sapping Pakistan’s economic potential and could cost its IT sector up to $300 million, according to the Pakistan Software Houses Association, which represents IT firms.

Shahzad Arshad, head of the Wireless & Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, warned that if “this continues, we will see a mass exodus of businesses from Pakistan”. He added that connectivity had slowed by up 40pc over the past month.

But even as authorities throttled connectivity and WhatsApp access, Pakistan’s Punjab province splashed out last week on adverts in New York’s Times Square — trying to sell itself as an “IT city”.

“Even if a firewall is necessary for security, trials could have saved the livelihoods of thousands of freelance software developers and avoided damage to Pakistan’s credibility as a reliable supplier of IT/IT-enabled services,” Ehsan Malik, CEO of the Pakistan Business Council said Saturday.

AFP has contacted WhatsApp parent company Meta for comment.

‘Fundamental rights’

Activists have long criticised the government’s censorship and control of the internet and media, shrinking an already limited space for free speech in the conservative country. The social media platform X has been banned in Pakistan since the election when it was used to air allegations of poll rigging against Mr Khan’s party.

The party’s social media team has also been targeted by arrests and detentions.

Shahzad Ahmad, head of the independent digital rights watchdog Bytes for All in Pakistan, said the firewall was largely designed to give the government control of the internet.“We believe that the firewall will create distrust among IT investors in Pakistan… and will also compromise citizens’ fundamental rights.”

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2024