Access is denied: Homegrown IT ventures are the country’s fastest-growing export sector, according to the Pakistan Software Houses Association, but the Asian nation is now facing a potentially devastating blow to its nascent tech industry due to government-led attempts at censorship.
Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) was founded in 1992 as part of a lobbying effort to promote the development of Pakistan’s IT industry with the Islamabad government. In a recent press release, the association blamed the government for forcing the “burgeoning” technology industry to face ruin as authorities implemented a “censorship firewall”.
The government’s actions have caused “unprecedented” operational disruption to Pakistan’s internet due to a terrible combination of technical challenges. The purported government-backed firewall has caused prolonged internet connectivity issues, unstable VPN performance, and generally speaking, a complete “collapse” of business operations.
Reuters reports that the firewall could result in economic losses of $300 million, more than the $298 million Pakistan exports made in June, and the situation could get even worse as companies are unable to meet contractual obligations with international partners.
“The government’s mysterious opacity and ambiguity regarding the design and purpose of the firewall has created a firestorm of distrust among customers across the globe,” P@SHA said. “They fear that their proprietary data and privacy will be compromised, which will only erode their hard-earned trust and confidence in Pakistan’s IT capabilities.”
The group fears that technology companies will pull out of trade with Pakistan unless the government reverses its attempts to censor the internet, and has called on the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority and the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications (MoITT) to restore full internet access for all or face the consequences.
The Pakistani government appears to be feeling the pressure brought on by P@SHA and other representatives of the local IT industry, judging by the weak response of MoITT representative Shaza Fatima Khawaja. Khawaja first acknowledged the government’s initiative, explaining that P@SHA had exaggerated the problems after upgrading its web management system.
However, at a later press conference, Khawaja said that the internet in Pakistan has not been shut down or slowed down by authorities. He said some services and apps were experiencing connectivity issues. The situation has led to widespread use of VPN services, putting unprecedented strain on servers.
Despite Khawaja’s efforts to reassure IT industry representatives, the nationwide censorship efforts are not entirely unreasonable. Pakistan has been well known for meddling in international services in recent years. The censorship can be linked to China’s notorious Internet firewall, which effectively keeps local connections open while blocking access to external servers.
