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Pakistan's internet freedom has deteriorated since 2020, according to a survey.
Thanks to the government's intensified blocking of political, social, and cultural websites, Internet freedom in Pakistan has decreased sharply since 2020.
According to Dawn, this is the main takeaway from the “Annual Pakistan media legal review 2020” study released by the Institute for Research, Advocacy, and Development (IRADA) on May 3 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day.
According to the report's details, "the combined result of these outcomes was that Pakistan's already unfriendly legal system regulating freedom of speech, access to know, and digital rights deteriorated significantly during 2020."
The media legal review 2020 has been devoted to the late I. A. Rehman, according to IRADA Executive Director Mohammad Aftab Alam.
According to the study, Pakistan was experiencing significant setbacks in the implementation of digital rights, freedom of speech, and the right to information – especially in online spaces – due to regression in internet policies and regulations.
“This is resulting in a rise in censorship, hate speech, digital surveillance and breach of privacy and disinformation and misinformation online,” the report added.
2020 saw an authoritarian government attempt to broaden and strengthen its powers to over-regulate the media industry and redefine the limits of free expression not only for media and communication professionals, including journalists and online users, but also for opposition political groups, civil society groups, and their supporters.
Nonetheless, the government increased its attempts to tighten internet restrictions, with the aim of broadening its policy of low tolerance for criticism, according to the paper.
As per the report, “13 incidents of actions under Peca against journalists or human rights activists have been reported during the year.”
According to the study, banning social media apps and websites will reappear with a vengeance in 2020.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has either launched investigations or released warnings to journalists and online intelligence professionals, or lawsuits have been filed against them under cybercrime legislation. At least two of them were also investigated for potentially illegal online operations.
According to Mr Alam, “the government needs to roll back its increasingly coercive policy and hostile practices” in order to ensure that online spaces in our country remain diverse and inclusive.
