Prominent Tech CEOs Call on Government to Repair Internet Access

As a result of the recent statewide demonstrations, over a hundred notable members of Pakistan’s business sector, IT entrepreneurs, and civil society have spoken out against the government’s continued use of partial and total internet shutdowns, as well as targeted content and App blocking.

Signatories include founders, CEOs, and other high-profile professionals from some of the top technology companies and several other organisations, who all agreed in a statement that the unjustified restriction of rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of association, and freedom of expression is a direct result of shutdowns and blocking of internet services.

According to the statement, a democratic society’s foundational rights and freedoms are threatened when the government blocks or hinders internet connectivity in the form of blanket shutdowns. This includes the right to access vital information during times of conflict, the right to peaceful assembly, and the freedoms of association and expression.

The internet is crucial for the communication and commerce of tens of millions of Pakistanis. It went on to say that the government’s banning, filtering, or shutting down of these services undermines civic space, creates economic uncertainty, and interferes with access to healthcare, emergency services, and banking services.

According to the statement, these kind of internet outages have a devastating effect on Pakistani startups, which have been the driving force behind the country’s efforts to foster entrepreneurship, create new jobs, and modernise its economy.

Hundreds of thousands of independent contractors and online content makers are also impacted. As an additional source of revenue, Pakistan’s IT exports brought in over $2.6 billion in FY23, a significant amount for a nation like Pakistan that is struggling to satisfy its foreign currency demands.

The declaration demanded that the federal government quickly remove barriers that hinder or impede individuals from conversing and sharing information securely and freely online.

Pakistan has international human rights obligations, including under articles 19, 21, and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the statement urges the government to stop “imposing partial or complete Internet shutdowns and blocking or filtering of services.”

The declaration said that internet access should be protected as a human right and should not be denied by the government. The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and preservation of the right to freedom of opinion and expression acknowledged this as early as 2011 when he or she noted that all member states had a duty to enable unhindered access to the internet.

The statement ended, “We can only take measures to ensure access on an equal and nondiscriminatory basis if we understand the issue of internet access as one of fundamental human rights.”