ISLAMABAD: A global Internet freedom watchdog has ranked Pakistan among countries where cyber freedom has been declining and raised alarm about new plans to regulate social media, putting it on a list of nations where people were arrested and convicted over social media posts. 

In its report titled ‘Freedom on the Net 2021: The Global Drive to Control Big Tech,’ Freedom House, a Washington-based advocacy group, ranked different countries with regard to cyber freedom. 

The watchdog cited examples of countries that used data sovereignty as an excuse for surveillance. In some cases, it said, such data localization requirements had been introduced in the context of content regulation, highlighting Pakistan where the government proposed new regulations for Internet users and service providers. 

“Pakistan’s proposed Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguards) Rules, the latest version of which was published in November 2020, outlines requirements for social media companies to establish one or more data servers in the country,” Freedom House said. 

The watchdog expressed concern over the proposed rules, which it said could negatively impact social media users and companies. 

“Pakistan’s proposed rules have raised alarms about their impact on end-to-end encryption,” the report read. “The draft requires social media companies and service providers with more than 500,000 users to hand over personal data in a decrypted and readable format when requested by the Federal Investigation Agency.” 

The Internet freedom watchdog found Pakistan among 24 countries that initiated measures governing how platforms treated content, and among 38 nations where authorities pursued reforms affecting companies’ management of data. 

It was also among the countries where authorities investigated, arrested or convicted people for their posts on YouTube, Twitter and TikTok. 

In its key findings, Freedom House said that Internet freedom had declined globally for the 11th consecutive year, with the greatest deterioration documented in Myanmar, Belarus and Uganda, where state forces cracked down amid electoral and constitutional crises. 

“Authorities in at least 48 countries pursued new rules for tech companies on content, data, and competition over the past year,” it said. 

“With a few positive exceptions, the push to regulate the tech industry, which stems in some cases from genuine problems like online harassment and manipulative market practices, is being exploited to subdue free expression and gain greater access to private data.” 

The report noted that free expression online was under unprecedented strain and more governments had arrested users for nonviolent political, social, or religious speech than ever before. 

Officials suspended Internet access in at least 20 countries and 21 states blocked access to social media platforms, according to the report. Authorities in at least 45 countries were suspected of obtaining sophisticated spyware or data-extraction technology from private vendors. 

The Washington-based advocacy group ranked China as the “worst environment for Internet freedom” for the seventh year in a row. 

“Chinese authorities imposed draconian prison terms for online dissent, independent reporting, and mundane daily communications,” it said. “The COVID-19 pandemic remains one of the most heavily censored topics. Officials also cracked down on the country’s tech giants, citing their abuses related to competition and data protection, though the campaign further concentrated power in the hands of the authoritarian state.” 

The report called for protection of human rights online and preservation of an open Internet through state intervention, adding that the emancipatory power of Internet depends on its egalitarian nature. 

To counter digital authoritarianism, it said, democracies should ensure that regulations enable users to express themselves freely, share information across borders and hold the powerful to account.