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The authorities claim to protect cybersecurity, not censorship.
Pakistan is preparing to introduce an Internet firewall, but the authorities deny that it will restrict freedom of speech. On Friday, Pakistan's Information and Telecommunications Minister, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, confirmed that the government is introducing a new Internet regulatory framework, calling it "an improvement in cybersecurity."
"This is a system, not a physical wall. It will not restrict anything," Khawaja said. She stressed that this decision was made due to daily cyber attacks on the country.
Pakistan's latest budget allocated more than $ 70 million to the Digital Infrastructure Development Initiative. However, critics and digital rights activists fear that the firewall will be used to stifle dissent. For several months, the Pakistani authorities hinted at the possibility of introducing a censorship tool, but were slow to make official statements.
In January, Pakistan's interim Prime Minister, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, announced the imminent deployment of a national firewall in an interview with a news channel. In June, a senior official confirmed that the government of Shahbaz Sharif is working on creating a tool to control Internet traffic and filter content.
At the same time, Sharif's government has avoided detailed explanations and is trying to minimize concerns about censorship. Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarrar said at a briefing that the firewall will focus exclusively on cybersecurity and data security, and will not affect freedom of speech.
On Thursday, the Pakistani media outlet The News reported that the problems that users encountered when sending messages via WhatsApp messenger, owned by Meta, were the result of firewall testing. A spokesman for the Independent Pakistan Telecommunications Authority declined to comment on the firewall implementation process, saying that their systems were functioning normally and that the problems could have been caused by a technical glitch.
The NetBlocks watchdog has recorded five incidents of internet access restrictions this year, most of which occurred during the February general election.
Source
Pakistan is preparing to introduce an Internet firewall, but the authorities deny that it will restrict freedom of speech. On Friday, Pakistan's Information and Telecommunications Minister, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, confirmed that the government is introducing a new Internet regulatory framework, calling it "an improvement in cybersecurity."
"This is a system, not a physical wall. It will not restrict anything," Khawaja said. She stressed that this decision was made due to daily cyber attacks on the country.
Pakistan's latest budget allocated more than $ 70 million to the Digital Infrastructure Development Initiative. However, critics and digital rights activists fear that the firewall will be used to stifle dissent. For several months, the Pakistani authorities hinted at the possibility of introducing a censorship tool, but were slow to make official statements.
In January, Pakistan's interim Prime Minister, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, announced the imminent deployment of a national firewall in an interview with a news channel. In June, a senior official confirmed that the government of Shahbaz Sharif is working on creating a tool to control Internet traffic and filter content.
At the same time, Sharif's government has avoided detailed explanations and is trying to minimize concerns about censorship. Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarrar said at a briefing that the firewall will focus exclusively on cybersecurity and data security, and will not affect freedom of speech.
On Thursday, the Pakistani media outlet The News reported that the problems that users encountered when sending messages via WhatsApp messenger, owned by Meta, were the result of firewall testing. A spokesman for the Independent Pakistan Telecommunications Authority declined to comment on the firewall implementation process, saying that their systems were functioning normally and that the problems could have been caused by a technical glitch.
The NetBlocks watchdog has recorded five incidents of internet access restrictions this year, most of which occurred during the February general election.
Source
