Fledgling online presence

PTI government’s Digital Pakistan plan also fell flat, another victim of economic instability and change in government

Despite some gains, Pakistan remains near the tail end of lists of nations measured by access to the internet, and also has some of the worst digital governance policies in the world. A recent Bytes For All report based on data for 2022 has noted that 15% of the country still does not even have access to phones, let alone the internet. And while internet access has expanded significantly, most of this is slow speed, meaning that people are essentially restricted to email and instant messaging.

But even if higher speed internet access was available, lack of digital literacy — another aspect that the report has criticised — means that many people would not know what to do with it. Inclusivity also remains a problem, with barely half of the country’s women owning a cell phone, compared to over 75% of men, making for the biggest gender gap in Asia and one of the worst in the world. Meanwhile, natural disasters and general economic and political instability have also impacted the digital space. Higher levels of investment would force the government to liberalise and modernise its laws and rules. Unfortunately, investment remains relatively low.

The PTI government’s Digital Pakistan plan also fell flat, another victim of economic instability and the change in government. But for all the new digital restrictions, cybercrime actually went up, with complaints hitting record levels as they crossed 100,000 for the year. A disproportionately large number of these are harassment and blackmail targeting women. Meanwhile, false blasphemy accusations and the use of the internet to organise mob violence remain rampant and unpoliced. But while everyday citizens must face threats to life and reputation, the government continues to focus on defamation laws which seem to be intentionally modeled to suppress dissent while doing nothing to protect citizens or the truth. Indeed, it appears increasingly unlikely that policymakers — and some citizens — are determined to ensure that the internet never becomes a force for good in Pakistan.