Pakistan’s economy might lose up to $300 million because of internet problems caused by a new national firewall, according to the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA).
The government of Pakistan is setting up an internet firewall to monitor and control online content and social media. However, the government says the firewall is not meant for censorship.
Ali Ihsan, the senior vice chairman of P@SHA, said that the firewall has already caused long internet outages and poor VPN services, which is hurting businesses. He warned that these internet problems could lead to big financial losses, possibly reaching $300 million or even more.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the Minister of State for Information Technology, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, have not responded to the issue yet. Earlier this month, Khawaja told the media that the government did not plan to use the firewall to censor content.
Pakistan has already blocked access to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) since the February elections. The government said it blocked the platform to prevent anti-state activities and because X did not follow local laws. However, human rights activists believe the blocking is meant to silence critical voices in the country.
P@SHA also expressed concern about the lack of transparency from the government regarding the firewall. They fear this could harm trust among internet users and international clients. P@SHA is asking the government to stop the firewall immediately and work with the industry to create a cybersecurity plan.
In June, Pakistan recorded $298 million in IT exports, a 33% increase from the previous year. For the fiscal year ending in June, IT exports reached $3.2 billion, up 24% from $2.5 billion the year before.
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