A seemingly ordinary letter addressed to Prime Minister Imran Khan by the Asia Internet Coalition has raised concerns over the government's new rules to block online content.
According to a report in daily report, the sources said that the removal and blocking in full content rules 2020 was recently approved by the Cabinet.
Government sources told Dawn that the document would be made public after the notification and that it could happen "next week".
According to the daily report, a major battle is brewing between the government behind the scenes and the major technology companies representing the coalition.
Read more
The officials of these platforms said that apart from content regulation, the real problem is to control the huge amount of private data collected by these platforms.
The alliance of technology companies includes some of the world's largest companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter, LinkedIn, search engines such as Yahoo and many more.
The letter, dated October 6, regretted that no company had been consulted on the draft new rules, despite the government's promise in February that civil society would be required to enact such legislation. Or there will be extensive consultation with relevant departments of technology companies.
The notification of these rules was first published in January this year, which was later suspended due to objections from various quarters, after which the consultation process began in June.
But in October, it was reported that a new draft of the rules had been sent to the Cabinet Committee for approval.
The Internet Coalition says it or its members have been consulted.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Asia Internet Coalition said: "The lack of consultation has raised serious concerns and we would like to draw your attention to the fact that despite numerous requests, the draft rules have been reviewed by industry stakeholders for consultation or negotiation." As a result, the consultation process lost its credibility.
Two top executives from companies representing the coalition said on condition of anonymity that the stakes were higher than previously thought.
One of the officials said that the government is demanding 'data localization' or transfer of servers in which the data of users belonging to Pakistan is secure, as well as all kinds of secure information on these servers. Access to data has also been demanded, while another official said that along with this, demands are also being made to block user data and content.
"The government is demanding the power to regulate content, access to user data and transfer data within its jurisdiction," a social media platform official told Dawn.
The official said the new rules were being passed quietly and in appropriate consultation, although Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg had raised the issue during recent talks with the prime minister.
Technology platforms collect a lot of data from their users, including contacts, browsing history, location history, photos, videos, emails and complete records of phone calls.
This data is used by companies for predictive analysis in which the platform uses artificial intelligence to understand what the user is doing or is doing now, but what the user wants to do in the near future.
For example, when you plan to book a trip, multiple platforms are able to predict what the purpose of your trip is, whether it is a private trip or a business reason. Will meet and where to stay.
The purpose of this exercise is to provide targeted advertising to the user.
The official also mentioned the five demands made by the government.
The first demand is to open a local office in Pakistan, the second is to store the data of all Pakistani users inside Pakistan, the third is to 'share all normal and illegal data'.
The fourth demand is to fix the timing of the company on the order to remove any content and an official said in this regard, 'This will open the way for overblocking as we receive a large number of applications and as a result legal content Will also have to be removed.
According to the official, the fifth demand is 'security monitoring' of the activities of Pakistani consumers, under which certain types of content are blocked and automatic access to these services is not provided, even if there is no formal request from the government to remove the content. Also be done.
The official said the demands from the government would "jeopardize all our work in Pakistan, asking technology companies if they have entered into any partnership with the government".
The official said the biggest objection of technology companies at the moment was "trying to secretly pass these rules".
The official told Dawn that when the rules came into effect in February, they were "unworkable" and could lead to a decision by companies to suspend services to Pakistani consumers.
The Coalition has pointed out the dangers of proceeding without a consultative process.
The letter said the rules "if improperly formulated, would harm the business environment in Pakistan and affect the attractiveness of investment for technology companies."
