Pakistan prepares to impose draconian web controls - but it is China who will benefit most

PAKISTAN will soon join authoritarian nations such as Iran, Turkey, Russia and China in imposing a national firewall to control internet content for millions of citizens, human rights groups have warned.

The firewall is designed by China and, like the “Great Firewall of China”, can block IPs and shape internet traffic by limiting access to so-called “undesirable” websites.

But while it is ordinary Pakistanis who will lose out, last night experts warned that it is Beijng - widely expected to include secret “back doors” through which it can direct detailed surveillance of Pakistan’s people and bureaucracy - who stands to benefit most from the project.

The threat, based on numerous examples where China has installed listening devices in infrastructure it has built, does not seem to worry Pakistan’s military hierarchy which sanctioned the firewall to combat criticism of the state.

Speaking at the end of the 83rd Formation Commanders Conference Pakistan’s most senior soldier, Gen. Asim Munir, said he had embarked on “a firm commitment to combat and defeat anti military campaigns proliferating across online platforms.”

Nor does Pakistan's military leadership seem concerned by the new firewall's economic consequences.

A trial run has already resulted in severely slowing down traffic, which has affecting not just social media but WhatsApp and the livelihoods of millions of Pakistanis, warned the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

And its consequences go beyond the domestic, hindering innovation and digital growth by isolating Pakistani internet users and businesses from global markets and collaborations.

While it is generally accepted that the firewall may pose "subtle threats" to internet-based businesses, it is social media which is the main target.

According to Ali Ihsan, senior vice chairman of Pakistan Software Houses Association, these disruptions have already inflected an estimated financial loss of $300m, which may further increase exponentially.

“We strongly believe that connectivity is a fundamental right - not a privilege,” said HRCP chairman Asad Iqbal But.

“Instead of protecting this right in a country of millions of young people who depend increasingly on access to the internet as a means of exercising their civil, political, economic and social rights, the government has sought to control flows of information, initially by banning the platform X in February 2024 and then by attempting to monitor internet traffic through a ‘firewall’ and subsequently a ‘web management system’, the specifications of which remain shrouded in secrecy."

The new system will reportedly cost around £1bn to purchase and install.

Though designed to appear as if the funding is coming from Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Technology, it is actually the army itself which is financing the project.

“Pakistan has just experienced an increase in terror attacks in border regions, and it is clear the military is trying to tackle these,” said Hans Horan, of the Proximities strategic risk group.

“Control of the internet at times of existential crisis is not a new phenomenon in authoritarian nations - just look at how Myanmar’s military government used roaming internet blackouts and power outages when it was facing protests.

“Because the military is looking at this issue through a national security lens, it does not concern itself with socio-economic consequences.

“But when you examine the groups and people who are engaging in the acts of terrorism tbis is supposed to combat , such as Afghani terror groups, you see they are not going to be very impacted by these measures because they are not particularly technically capable and don't use the Internet that much.”

The result, then would be to generally tighten the reins of Pakistani civilians and their ability to express opinions freely , while refusing Pakistan’s exposure to influences that weren't Russian or Chinese.

And beijing has spied an opportunity.

“China has a lot of business interests in Pakistan, but there is also a lot of Sino-scepticism among the Pakistani population," added Horan.

“So Beijing wants to gain a deeper level of understanding about what's going in in the country. “

After a Chinese corporation built the African Union headquarters compound in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, listening devices were discovered planted deep into the walls, timed to relay information back to Shanghai every night after everyone had left the building,

“Once it builds this infrastructure , it will have more than enough ability though back doors to allow for profound surveillance," said Horan.

“While this firewall may give Pakistan one layer of control, the truth is that it will give China a whole other layer of control. “