EDITORIAL: The government’s admission on December 16 in parliament of at least partial responsibility for sluggish internet speeds, social media monitoring and restricted internet freedoms — while overdue — at least provides some reassurance to citizens, however negligible, that the authorities are, finally, not entirely being economical with the truth.
Parliamentary Secretary for Cabinet Secretariat, Sajid Mehdi’s assertion that grave security threats have forced the government’s hand with respect to curbs on social media and clamp downs on VPNs finally brings some transparency to the issue.
However, just in case, anyone started thinking the authorities were finally being forth right, his claim — in the same breath — that internet speeds were “not as slow” as reported, never mind the country languishing in global rankings measuring internet speeds, reminded us that the government’s version of the truth remains, at best, selective.
Additionally, one cannot help but question how restrictions on internet freedoms have contributed to national security, especially given the consistent rise in terror attacks in recent years.
This ongoing dissonance between official narratives and reality was also evident at the National Broadband Network Forum held the same day, where divergent portrayals of the state of the IT sector and the country’s digital infrastructure were presented by industry stakeholders and government functionaries.
While IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khwaja reiterated the government’s commitment to bridge the digital divide and enhance digital inclusivity, one wonders how this can ever be achieved by a state apparatus so wary of new technologies and so prone to restricting access to the latest innovations.
On one hand, the government is formulating ambitious plans to roll out the 5G spectrum auction next year, but on the other, as pointed out at the forum, internet shutdowns and app throttling will likely “reduce investor interest in 5G”.
Additionally, the country’s digital infrastructure faces several unaddressed long-standing challenges, including Pakistan being one of the most spectrum-starved nations globally, with just 1.1MHz of spectrum per million people, as pointed out by a senior telecom industry official, while issues related to the high cost of 5G equipment and devices present a significant barrier to achieving goals aimed at enhancing digital inclusivity.
Instead of effectively addressing these critical deficiencies, the authorities have routinely taken measures that ultimately have the opposite effect.
On top of that, the government has now introduced the Digital Nation Pakistan Bill in the National Assembly, which aims to establish a digital society and economy by creating digital identities for citizens and centralising social, economic and governance data ostensibly to improve access to government services. This initiative, however, seems to overlook the foundational requirements needed for its success.
Without first building the necessary technological infrastructure that at the very least ensures reliable internet connectivity, or establishing a robust data protection legal frame work that ensures citizens’ online privacy and data security rights, as well as a glaring lack of input from relevant stakeholders and technology experts, the government still deemed it wise to not only introduce the bill but also attempt to push it through parliament without encouraging debate such far-reaching legislation warrants.
This is particularly concerning since the bill appears to lack safeguards against potential misuse, both by malicious non-state actors and cybercriminals, as well as by a state all too eager to monitor its citizens.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024