The crackdown on cyberspace only cripples Pakistan’s digital future

Platform X (formerly Twitter), like in many places, is a popular direct access tool between millions of citizens and policymakers in Pakistan for byte sized but often influential bilateral exchanges. This helps bypass the bureaucracy. In an increasingly digitized world, this is par for the (dis)course of this kind. But X has been suspended in Pakistan for over 10 weeks now for being, according to a government explanation to Islamabad High Court, “a threat to public disorder and integrity [of the country]”.

This sweeping judgment is the state’s way of acknowledging that they find it hard to respond to an avalanche of criticism of the results of the national election held in February in the backdrop of allegations of rigging, and dissent mostly emanating from the vocal supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, which got the highest numbers of votes but not power. The state response instead of providing answers is to shut down the platform en masse – remove the messenger and kill the message.

Similar shutdowns or other restrictions on social media political expression have been imposed in recent months in the backdrop of the elections in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Each of these countries – and Pakistan – have also passed, or plan to enact, laws aimed at narrowing digital spaces for free speech and curbing digital rights in general.

The current shutdown of X in Pakistan is not an isolated response of the state when it comes to dealing with the rise of dissent online. In recent years there have been long bans on Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and even Wikipedia. Ever since Imran Khan, using social media, declared war on state institutions three years ago and unleashed a large-scale coordinated criticism of the political system and the power wielders behind it, the state apparatus – irrespective of which government is in power (and there have been three since Khan lost power) has set about restricting freedom of expression in general.

To this effect, a distinct target to restrict free speech has been cyberspace and social media – the only avenue available for political opposition soundbite in Pakistan since legacy media including television and print was tamed and purged of critics years ago-- who all migrated online to emote.

Pakistan is one of the top 10 digitalized societies in terms of Internet access and social media use although it also ranks among the top five digital censors.

Adnan Rehmat

A report launch ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3 by Pakistani media watchdog Freedom Network summarized a damning indictment: “Reduced tolerance for online dissent, especially stemming from political activity and free speech by citizens and journalists, shutting down mobile networks on election day, throttling of Internet access, forced suspension of a popular social media platform known as a dissent medium, and a raft of attacks and harassment of journalists and bloggers, including the murder of four journalists, significantly eroded the parameters of freedom of expression in Pakistan during 2023 as well as enhancing the risks for media freedoms.”

All this is worrying as Pakistan is one of the top 10 digitalized societies in terms of Internet access and social media use although it also ranks among the top five digital censors – or state requesters of content takedowns from social media platforms such as X, Facebook and TikTok. Even after elections in February, actions and statements from the new government indicate it retains its intent and impetus to the narrowing of digital spaces and practices.

In the dying days of its last government in 2023, the Shahbaz Sharif government approved the worrisome ‘E-Safety Bill’ and the ‘Personal Data Protection Bill’. It now plans to enact them into law. The bills – framed as ‘combating cybercrime and protecting rights of online users’ mainly aim at cracking down on dissent and establishing an authority to serve as a new headquarter of censorship with powers to impose steep fines for both ‘posters’ of content (social media users) and ‘hosters’ of content (the tech corporations). Requiring establishing local offices of tech corporations and providing access to data of users, they have the potential to cripple Pakistan’s digital economy.

These bills, drafted without public consultations with stakeholders, worry both digital rights groups and even the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) representing such giants as Facebook, X, YouTube, Amazon and Google, which have been issuing statements warning against the ill-intended “weaponization of regulation” that will not only restrict public expression but also undermine the digital economy.

What is true in general for South Asian countries is just as true for Pakistan. With it apparent that the states in the region do not intend to scale back on their ambitions to restrict digital rights, freedom of expression and right to information online, peer supporters of digital rights and online free speech and digital economy should form collaborative communities of action to deploy joint strategies to resist measures that militate against public interest and citizens’ rights.

- Adnan Rehmat is a Pakistan-based journalist, researcher and analyst with interests in politics, media, development and science.