Major Internet Players Threaten To Suspend The Services In Pakistan
Internet giants, including Facebook, Google, and Twitter, threatened to suspend their services in Pakistan over the government's new censorship rules.
An alliance comprising digital media giants Google, Facebook, and Twitter (among others) have spoken out in contradiction of the new regulations approved by the Pakistani administration (government) for social media, threatening to dangle the services in the country if the rules were not revised. Earlier in February, AIC (Asia Internet Coalition) in a letter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan, called on his régime to revise the new sets of rules & regulations for social media. As per the letter, which is referring to the Citizens Protection Rules (Against the Online Harm), the laws and rules as presently written, would make it very tough for AIC (Asia Internet Coalition) members to make their facilities available to Pakistani users and the businesses.
The new set of rules and regulations makes it obligatory for the social media giants to open the offices in the Islamabad, to build the data servers to store the information, and to take down the content upon documentation by the authorities. Failure to meet the terms with the authorities in Pakistan will make the outcome as hefty fines and possible termination of the services. The rules and regulations were producing global companies to re-evaluate their vision of the governing environment in Pakistan, and their willingness to function in the country.
Denoting to the rules and regulations as "vague & arbitrary in nature," the AIC (Asia Internet Coalition) said that it was compelling them to go against the established standards of user privacy and the freedom of the expression.
According to the most significant journal, The news international quoted that they are not against the rules and regulations of the social media, and they admit that Pakistan already has a broad legislative outline governing the online content. Moreover, such laws and regulations are failing to address the crucial issues, which include the worldwide recognized rights to individual privacy and expression.
As per the laws, authorities will be capable of taking action against the Pakistanis, if found guilty of targeting the state institutions at home and abroad on social media. The law will also benefit the law enforcement authorities to obtain access to the data of accounts, which is found involved in suspicious activities—the authority's prerogative to identify the objectionable content to the social media podiums to be taken down. In case of failure to comply within the 15 days, it would have the power to suspend their services and impose a fine of worth up to 500 million Pakistani rupees (USD 3 million).
