ISLAMABAD: A key coalition partner of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration on Monday called for a “digital bill of rights,” criticizing Pakistan’s restrictive Internet policies during a university graduation ceremony in southern Sindh.
The government has faced sharp criticism from activists and opposition parties for what they describe as a digital clampdown in recent months. A proposed national firewall, ostensibly designed to curb “anti-state propaganda” and “blasphemous content,” has slowed Internet speeds across the country.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has also intensified its crackdown on virtual private networks (VPNs), allowing their legal use only after users register with the government— posing challenges for freelancers and businesses relying on online access.
“We must strive for a digital bill of rights for our era,” Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, said at the Sindh University Jamshoro. “This digital bill of rights should not be something I write on my own, declaring, ‘These are your rights,’ and then campaign for it.”
“No,” he added. “I want us— you, me, the students and the youth of this country— to collectively draft our own digital bill of rights, based on what we believe are our inalienable rights.”
He maintained these rights could not be taken away from the people of Pakistan, though the “elders, bureaucrats, and politicians sitting in Islamabad simply do not understand them.”
Bhutto-Zardari criticized the government’s restrictions while hinting at a disconnect between policymakers and the digital realities faced by citizens.
“They don’t understand because they don’t use these technologies— it doesn’t affect them,” he said. “Whether the Internet is slowed down or VPNs are blocked, it doesn’t matter to them.
But it will make your life miserable, and it will make my life miserable. This is our democratic right, and we will fight for our rights.”
Earlier this month, Minister of State for IT and Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawaja defended Internet restrictions, citing security concerns.
“No one is interested in shutting down the Internet,” she told parliament. “Law and order is paramount for us, but we will make every effort to ensure no disruption to the industry.”
