Amnesty International has urged Pakistani authorities to be more open about the use of monitoring and surveillance technology as well as the countrywide internet outage.
Over the past several weeks, there has been a noticeable decrease in internet speeds. As a result, users are encountering challenges while attempting to transmit or download media and audio notes over WhatsApp while using mobile data, and they are even experiencing poor browsing rates when using broadband.
As per a statement released on Monday, Amnesty International urged the Pakistani authorities to be open about the reason behind the internet disruptions and to make sure that they don’t implement any disproportionate, needless, or illegal monitoring or surveillance systems that go against international human rights law.
It stated, “It is concerning that Pakistani authorities are so opaque about their use of monitoring and surveillance technologies that censor content, throttle, and regulate internet speeds.”
The application of these technologies—including national firewalls—has repeatedly shown itself to be incompatible with human rights.
The declaration made clear that the freedom of expression and information access on the internet are compromised by these ubiquitous tools. It went on to say that e-commerce, the digital economy, citizen self-expression, and the public’s right to information are all dependent on the internet.
The inability of Pakistani populations living abroad to interact and communicate with loved ones back home is another reason why internet outages cause worry, the report continued.
Following criticism from politicians and the public, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) explained last week that no firewalls were being put and ascribed the country’s poor internet to a “faulty submarine cable.”
