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The Internet Governance and Digital Rights Monitor, 2017

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The Internet Governance and Digital Rights Monitor, 2017 1 The Internet Governance and Digital Rights Monitor, 2017 Authors Sadaf Khan Talal Raza Waqas Naeem Editing & Review Sadaf Khan Asad Baig Design and illustrations Aniqa Haider Published by Media Matters for DemoCraCy 2018 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://CreativeCommons.org/liCenses/by/4.0/ Some rights reserved. 2 3 Table of Content Section I – Internet Rights Chapter 1 – Zip it – An aCCount of freedom of 7 Expression online Chapter 2 – Its a private matter – digital technology 15 and Challenges to privacy Chapter 3 – DisConneCting the masses 24 Section II – Internet Governance and Regulation Chapter 4– The IT PoliCy – A rights based review 32 Chapter 5 – Pakistan’s CyberCrime ACt: From 39 implementation to implications Section III – Digital Services Chapter 6 – E-Governance in Pakistan: Hopeful Signs for 48 the Future Chapter 7 – Growth in E-commerce shows Promising 60 Signs for Local Digital Services Industry 4 5 6 7 Chapter 1 Zip it! - An account of freedom of expression online Sadaf Khan The press in Pakistan is no stranger to state censorship. But in recent years the domain of censorship and restrictions on speech has spread and now, it isn’t just the press that is subjected to declared and undeclared censorship policies but activists, political workers, and human rights defenders are all increasingly being subjected to it. Another concern is that citizens may begin to internalize perspectives that justify or defend the suppression of truth and dissent. Within this scenario, the development of a truly democratic discourse remains impossible. Introduction The year 2017 saw the disqualifiCation of the Pakistani Prime Minister in a Case initiated on the basis of an investigative journalism projeCt, the Panama Papers. The Panama Papers and their politiCal fallout beCame a key faCtor that influenCed policy decisions regarding the regulation of journalistic and political expression in the Country. Multiple laws, inCluding the Controversial CyberCrime law, Pakistan EleCtroniC Crimes Act 2016 and the Anti Terrorism Act, were used to pressurize journalists and human rights defenders. There were various inCidenCes of journalists and politiCally voCal soCial media users being approaChed and intimidated with threats of legal aCtion. Year 2017 also saw the first instanCe of mass bloCking of news websites along with multiple soCial media platforms as the government desperately attempted to keep proCeedings of a publiC protest under wraps. AttaCks on journalists Continued and expanded to inClude journalists who work primarily for digital mediums. In addition, there were also instances of journalists being warned to Cease their soCial media aCtivity. In addition to the punitive use of laws to Curb expression, there were also multiple instanCes of hate speeCh and inCitement to violence against those engaged in dissenting speeCh; the Campaign that led to the murder of a university student Mashal Khan is a Case in point. This Chapter outlines the key threats to freedom of expression that emerged in the year 2017. Policy & Political Background Since 9/11 and its security related fallout around the world, Pakistan has maintained a politiCal narrative that holds ‘seCurity’ as a prime objeCtive aChievable only through a Compromise on Certain other rights. Over the years, this narrative has provided justifiCations for blanket censorship, bans of social media platforms, CraCkdowns against voCal aCtivists and media entities, and network disConneCtions. It has also reCeived support from a signifiCantly sizeable seCtion of journalists and aCtivists, who seem to have internalized its principles. Thus, poliCies and aCtions to Curb freedom of expression in Pakistan have to be understood within a political landsCape that promotes the saCrifiCe of some liberties to ensure seCurity for all. 8 Year 2017 was a politiCally signifiCant year for Pakistan for multiple reasons; most signifiCantly beCause of the general eleCtions due in 2018 and the politiCal aftermath of the release of Panama Papers. Thus the government was involved in building a struCtured narrative against digital mediums, in partiCular soCial media platforms like FaCebook and Twitter. From statements from the Ministry of Interior, to Court deCisions to direCtives from Pakistan TeleCommuniCation Authority, PTA, different parts of the legislative, administrative and legal systems appeared to work together to present digital media as a persistent threat that had to be railed in. 2017 – moving towards silence State narratives around social media The beginning of the year 2017 was demonstrative of the direCtion this year would take – within the first week of January 2017, four bloggers went missing1. Within days of the bloggers’ disappearance, soCial media posts aCCusing them of anti-state and anti-IslamiC aCtivities began surfacing. These were picked up by the mainstream media too. There was fear among rights aCtivists that upon return the bloggers would face the “wrath of zealots who want instant justice for blasphemers”2. Ms. Zohra Yusuf, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, HRCP, also saw this Campaign as an effort to ‘lessen sympathy’ for the bloggers and to ensure that “when the bloggers reappear, there Could be a Charge against them”3. A Charge of blasphemy was formally levelled against them through a petition in Islamabad High Court, IHC. However the FIA Could find “no evidenCe” that the bloggers were engaged in blasphemy and the IHC stated that “the trial court will decide if this was a case of false accusation or lack of evidence”4. In March 2017, during the hearing of a related Case JustiCe Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court, IHC, stated that blasphemy through soCial media is “a greatest form of terrorism and people involved in this heinous aCt are biggest terrorists” 5 and ordered the Ministry of Interior to “eliminate aCCess to blasphemous Content on soCial media, even if it meant bloCking “all access to 1 AFP (2017). Four rights activists gone missing this week. [online] DAWN.COM. Available at: https://www.dawn.Com/news/1307195 [ACCessed 20 Apr. 2018]. 2 Rumi, R. (2017). Opinion | Bring Pakistan’s Missing Bloggers Home. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.Com/2017/01/20/opinion/bring-pakistans-missing- bloggers-home.html [ACCessed 20 Apr. 2018]. 3 Tanzeem, A. (2017). Blasphemy Allegations Against Missing Pakistani Bloggers Backfire on Critic. [online] VOA. Available at: https://www.voanews.Com/a/blasphemy-allegations-against- missing-pakistani-bloggers-baCkfire-critic/3694973.html [ACCessed 20 Apr. 2018]. 4 DAWN.COM. (2017). No evidence found against bloggers accused of blasphemy, FIA tells court. [online] Available at: https://www.dawn.Com/news/amp/1378262 [ACCessed 4 May 2018]. 5 Asad, M. (2017). IHC wants blasphemous content on social media blocked. DAWN.COM. Retrieved 8 August 2017, from https://www.dawn.Com/news/1319102 9 soCial media platforms”6. In the deCision of Salman Shahid vs Federation of Pakistan, JustiCe Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of IHC Commented that government should try to initiate aCtion to permanently shut down websites and pages that host blasphemous Content7. In June 2017, an Anti-Terrorism Court handed a death sentenCe to a man for Committing blasphemy over FaCebook. This sentence was given under Section 11W of the Anti-Terrorism Act with the assertion that blasphemous speeCh Could ‘whip up sectarian hatred’8. Blasphemous online Content remained a topiC of debate throughout the year and Consequently soCial media platforms were frequently presented as anti-religious forums. In faCt, the government aCtively engaged in a Campaign to CritiCise soCial media platforms. The Ministry of Interior and the former Minister of Interior termed soCial media anti-state and dangerous. In a statement issued on May 23, 2017 the Interior Minister said, “our Cultural and religious values are under attaCk from a seCtion of soCial media”9. The statement also inCluded a vow to ensure that “efforts were accelerated to track internet users’ activities online and hunt down undesirable elements”. Intimidation of journalists In 2017, the cyber-Crime law PECA was used as a tool to intimidate and harass journalists, aCtivists and other soCial media users who were engaged in political Commentary on current affairs. The Federal Investigative AgenCy, FIA, sent notiCes to and interrogated various journalists, bloggers and miCro-bloggers who were acCused of penning anti Army content10. The choice of sections of the law used to charge these individuals was often bizarre. In a number of Cases, inCluding one of a journalist Zafar Achakzai,11, the FIA brought Charges under Section 21 of PECA12 that defines offenses against modesty of a natural person and deals largely with creation and abuse of sexually explicit images to intimidate a person. In other Cases the FIA did not issue formal Charges and was 6 Shahzad, R. (2017). Blasphemy: IHC directs authorities to block all social media if necessary. The Express Tribune. Retrieved 8 August 2017, from https://tribune.Com.pk/story/1348784/ihc- direCts-authorities-bloCk-social-media-neCessary/ 7 Salman Shahid vs Federation of Pakistan via Ministry of Interior, Writ Petition739/2017 (Islamabad High Court 2017). 8 Gabol, I. (2017). First death sentence handed to man for blasphemy on social media. DAWN.COM. Retrieved 1 OCtober 2017, from https://www.dawn.Com/news/1338684 9 No restrictions either: No unbridled freedom on social media, says Nisar. (2017). The Express Tribune. Retrieved 8 August 2017, from https://tribune.Com.pk/story/1417195/anti-army- content-social-media-will-not-tolerated-chaudhry-nisar/ 10 FIA traces 12 websites with anti-Army content. (2017). The Nation. Retrieved 1 OCtober 2017, from http://nation.Com.pk/national/16-May-2017/fia-traCes-12-websites-with-anti-army- Content 11 Shah, S. (2017). Quetta court grants bail to journalist arrested by FIA over 'anti-state' social media posts. DAWN.COM. Retrieved 1 OCtober 2017, from https://www.dawn.Com/news/1343411/quetta-court-grants-bail-to-journalist-arrested-by-fia- over-anti-state-social-media-posts 12 Hashim, A.
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