By Saffiyah Khalique
Your commercial awareness dose.
A letter was shared with journalists on Wednesday listing the concerns of the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), which represents Facebook, Google and Twitter in the region. This was amid concerns over the introduction of the Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content Rules (2020), which aims to control the flow of information on social media, which includes any information that could “intimidate or harm the reputation of the federal or provincial government or any person holding office”.
These restrictions on free speech across the internet in Pakistan was first passed earlier this year in February. This was the Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguards) Rules, which was rejected by technology companies and digital rights groups over concerns about the authoritarian nature of these laws. This led to Prime Minister Imran Khan retracting the rules. At the beginning of December, the government looked at the rules again to remove a clause that outlawed criticism of the federal and provincial government, as well as public officeholders.
With the new laws come privacy concerns for Pakistanis. Internet usage is regulated through the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, which legalised the censorship of the internet on the grounds of ‘the security and defence of Pakistan,’ ‘the glory of Islam’ and ‘public order, decency or morality.’
These controls are aimed to regulate the flow of information that citizens can consume in the country. It has now become mandatory for online platforms to take down any content requested by Pakistani authorities within twenty-four hours.
What happens when companies refuse to comply? They face fines of up to $3.14m according to the regulations. The new regulations have also made it compulsory for social media companies with over half a million users in the country, like Facebook and Twitter to establish offices and data servers in the country. By localising data requirements, it affects the ability of Pakistani citizens to have open and free access to the internet.
Pakistan’s Information Technology Minister Amin-ul-Haque told Al Jazeera that: “the government of Pakistan will not tolerate three things in any form. Hate speech, number one. Number two is anti-state content, and number three is vulgarity.”
The dangers of these moves by the Pakistani government on its people affect everyone from media workers, journalists, human rights activists and the ordinary citizen. The government has a history of attacking and harassing its journalists, with several being killed over alleged blasphemy violations including the recent kidnapping of prominent journalist Matiullah Jan in July 2020 for his criticisms of the army.
Activists such as Gulail Ismail have had to flee the country because of their work towards women’s rights. Professors such as Junaid Hafeez have been handed death sentences for sharing liberal views on Facebook. Each one of these cases has happened within the last year, and the new laws will allow the government to target more dissenters.
Tech companies are resisting this move to blanket ban content the government simply does not like. A representative for a social media company told Al-Jazeera that there has been a lack of communication and compromise on the government’s side with the Pakistani government becoming silent and neglecting to update the laws, ignoring advice the tech representatives were giving the government. Similarly, legal experts argue the new rules could breach the country’s constitution in regard to freedom of expression.
Pakistan’s internet laws are ones to watch both from a legal tech perspective and a human rights view. The country has a history of suppressing its journalists and dissenters with organisations such as Reporters Without Borders documenting the increase in censorship over criticisms of the government and military in the country.
Tech companies must resist these laws to protect freedom of expression for Pakistani citizens, journalists and human rights activists because without free and open access to the internet the country, so the world has access to what is going in the country and protect the human right to freedom of expression across all platforms.
To keep up to date with the latest commercial news, click on commercial awareness to get your daily dose.
Donate & Support