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Google, Facebook and Twitter are threatening to leave Pakistan under censorship rule.
Global internet firms Facebook, Google and Twitter and others have joined forces and are threatening to leave Pakistan after the South Asian nation has given full powers to local regulators to regulate digital content.
Earlier this week, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan granted power to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to delete and block digital material that poses harms, intimidates or arouses disaffection to the government or otherwise harms Pakistan's integrity, security and defense.
In addition to Facebook, Google and Twitter, AIC serves Apple, Amazon, LinkedIn, SAP, Expedia Group, Yahoo, Airbnb, Snatch, Rakuten, Booking.com, Line and Cloudflare, a group called the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), which said that they were "alarmed" by Pakistan's latest legislation restricting Internet companies.
If the message seems familiar, that is because this is not the first time these tech companies have openly voiced their reservations about the new legislation proposed by Khan's ministry in February of this year.
After the plan was made by the Pakistani government earlier this year the group vowed to leave, a decision that made the nation withdraw and promised a broad and broad-based dialogue mechanism with civil society and tech firms.
The consultation has never taken place, AIC said in a statement on Thursday, reiterating that its members would not be allowed to work in the country where the legislation is in place.
Draconian data localization requirements would harm people's right to access the free and accessible internet and close down Pakistan's digital economy from the rest of the world. It is chilling to see the powers of the PTA broadened, allowing them to compel social media platforms to breach existing human rights protections on privacy and freedom of speech," said the organization.
It would make it incredibly difficult for AIC Representatives to make their services available to Pakistani consumers and companies. If Pakistan wants to be an attractive destination for technology investment and realize its goal of digital transformation, we encourage the Government to collaborate with industry on realistic, simple regulations that secure the advantages of the Internet and keep people safe from harm.
Under the new rule, tech firms who do not delete or ban illicit content from their websites within 24 hours of notification by Pakistani authorities also face a fine of up to $3.14 million. Like its neighboring country, India, which has already proposed a similar regulation with little to no backlash, Pakistan now also needs these corporations to have local offices in the country.
The latest laws come as Pakistan has cracked down on what it claims to be offensive internet content in recent months. It forbade popular smartphone game PUBG Mobile and briefly blocked TikTok last month.
