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Freedom of expression
in December, a move that received mixed response from different quarters of
society. The Act would allow security agencies in Pakistan to tap into private
communications of citizens in order to catch terrorists. The federal cabinet
defended the law by claiming that security agencies needed modern techniques
and devices for investigation and to be able to track electronic communications.
However, human rights organisations slammed the move as a serious
curtailment of citizen’s right to privacy. The Act gave security agencies the
right to tap phones, calls, emails, SMS, internet connection and even conduct
human intelligence on suspicious individuals. Such powers carried huge potential
for misuse by security agencies for personal or political purposes. The Act
also failed to define the term terrorism which could potentially be used vaguely
for personal gains. The opposition tried to limit the applicability of the Act only
to proceedings before the Anti-Terrorism Court but could not persuade the
treasury benches.
Social media and the web
An ever increasing number of Pakistanis gained access to social media
and the Internet. According to official Facebook statistics, the number of
Facebook users in Pakistan grew from 1.8 million at the end of 2011 to 3.6
million in 2012 alone. Millions of young adults took to Twitter and Facebook
to share information. The flow of information on the Internet is considered to
be free and unrestricted but this was not the case in Pakistan. The video
sharing website YouTube was banned in Pakistan in September as a
consequence of a video uploaded there that was widely considered to be
denigrating Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The video triggered mass protests
and condemnation all across the Muslim world but the tensions simmered
away within a month or so. In Pakistan, however, the ban on YouTube was
imposed with the condition that it shall stay in place till the video was taken
down. YouTube failed to comply and, consequently, the ban was in place until
the end of 2012. Numerous
artists, civil society and citizens
protested against this ban,
labeling it a gross violation of
the right of freedom of
expression and access to
information for the citizens of
Pakistan.
Banning websites was not
a new phenomenon in Pakistan
though. The government had
been accused for many years
for banning websites of Baloch
nationalists. Baloch Hal, the first
The plug was pulled on YouTube.
English language Baloch news