ISLAMABAD: A senior official of the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@sha) urged the government on Monday to “whitelist” IT businesses and exclude them from a national firewall that authorities are moving to implement to monitor and regulate content and social media platforms.
Internet speeds in Pakistan had dropped by 30-40 percent over the past few weeks, the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (WISPAP) said last week, as the federal government moves to implement a nationwide firewall to block malicious content, protect government networks from attacks, and allow the government to identify IP addresses associated with what it calls “anti-state propaganda.” IT Minister Shaza Khawaja has repeatedly said the government did not plan to use firewalls as a form of censorship.
Last week, the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) warned that frequent Internet disruptions and low speeds caused by poor implementation of the firewall had led many multinational companies to consider relocating their offices out of Pakistan, with some having “already done so.” The Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) said in a press release on Thursday Pakistan’s economy could lose up to $300 million due to Internet disruptions caused by the imposition of the firewall.
“If they consult us, we can tell them to exclude IT businesses from this process and whitelist them,” Senior Vice Chairman P@sha, Ali Ihsan, said in an interview to a local TV channel on Monday. “There is no need for the IT business to go through the firewall since our identification is already tracked against the record.”
“We have a suspicion that the firewall is bypassing the Content Delivery Networks,” he added, referring to a group of geographically distributed servers that speed up the delivery of web content by bringing it closer to where users are.
“This is why the Internet traffic is choking. Till technical details aren’t discussed with us, we can’t guide them [government] to a solution.”
Ihsan questioned why the government was not consulting with the IT sector on its firewall surveillance plans when P@sha and the IT ministry had been working together for many years.
“When we were in the loop for the past ten years, did anyone even know about the firewall or was there any obstruction?” Ihsan said. “We want to work with the government so that the economy doesn’t get impacted and the system keeps functioning. We have to support the economy and bring back dollars.”
Ihsan said many countries installed firewalls to monitor Internet traffic but “the level of surveillance being carried out differentiates,” adding that the firewalls used by China and the United Arab Emirates were considered “severe” but Pakistan might be employing even more “extreme surveillance technology.”
Pakistan recorded $298 million in IT exports in June, up 33 percent from the year before. During the fiscal year that ended in June, IT exports were worth $3.2 billion, up 24 percent from $2.5 billion in the fiscal year 2023.
Pakistan has already blocked access to social media platform X since the February elections, with the government saying the blocking was to stop anti-state activities and due to a failure by X to adhere to local Pakistani laws. Rights activists say the blocking of X is designed to stifle critical voices and democratic accountability in the country.
Pakistan software association urges government to exclude IT businesses from Internet firewall
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Pakistan software association urges government to exclude IT businesses from Internet firewall
- Pakistan might be employing “extreme surveillance technology,” P@sha vice chairman says
- P@SHA warns economy could lose up to $300 million due to Internet disruptions from firewall
Pakistan, global crypto exchange discuss modernizing digital payments, creating job prospects
- Pakistani officials, Binance team discuss coordination between Islamabad, local banks and global exchanges
- Pakistan has attempted to tap into growing crypto market to curb illicit transactions, improve oversight
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s finance officials and the team of a global cryptocurrency exchange on Friday held discussions aimed at modernizing the country’s digital payments system and building local talent pipelines to meet rising demand for blockchain and Web3 skills, the finance ministry said.
The development took place during a high-level meeting between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Chairman Bilal bin Saqib, domestic bank presidents and a Binance team led by Global CEO Richard Teng. The meeting was held to advance work on Pakistan’s National Digital Asset Framework, a regulatory setup to govern Pakistan’s digital assets.
Pakistan has been moving to regulate its fast-growing crypto and digital assets market by bringing virtual asset service providers (VASPs) under a formal licensing regime. Officials say the push is aimed at curbing illicit transactions, improving oversight, and encouraging innovation in blockchain-based financial services.
“Participants reviewed opportunities to modernize Pakistan’s digital payments landscape, noting that blockchain-based systems could significantly reduce costs from the country’s $38 billion annual remittance flows,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
“Discussions also emphasized building local talent pipelines to meet rising global demand for blockchain and Web3 skills, creating high-value employment prospects for Pakistani youth.”
Blockchain is a type of digital database that is shared, transparent and tamper-resistant. Instead of being stored on one computer, the data is kept on a distributed network of computers, making it very hard to alter or hack.
Web3 refers to the next generation of the Internet built using blockchain, focusing on giving users more control over their data, identity and digital assets rather than big tech companies controlling it.
Participants of the meeting also discussed sovereign debt tokenization, which is the process of converting a country’s debt such as government bonds, into digital tokens on a blockchain, the ministry said.
Aurangzeb called for close coordination between the government, domestic banks and global exchanges to modernize Pakistan’s payment landscape.
Participants of the meeting also discussed considering a “time-bound amnesty” to encourage users to move assets onto regulated platforms, stressing the need for stronger verifications and a risk-mitigation system.
Pakistan has attempted in recent months to tap into the country’s growing crypto market, crack down on money laundering and terror financing, and promote responsible innovation — a move analysts say could bring an estimated $25 billion in virtual assets into the tax net.
In September, Islamabad invited international crypto exchanges and other VASPs to apply for licenses to operate in the country, a step aimed at formalizing and regulating its fast-growing digital market.
