Google, the largest search engine and video-sharing platform in the world, is planning to construct a liaison office in Pakistan, although Twitter and Facebook have stated they are unable to open offices there in the near future.
The global juggernaut has already registered itself as a corporation in Pakistan, according to an announcement made on Friday by IT and Telecom Minister Syed Amin-Ul-Haque.
“A delegation of Google is scheduled to come to Pakistan early next week from Singapore and the company will likely announce the establishment of a functional office here,” the IT Minister told the local Newspaper agency.
He also revealed TikTok’s agreement to open a liaison office in Pakistan.
Google, however, has already grabbed the lead in this area and the company is already registered with the Karachi registration of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).
One of the prerequisites under the Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight, and Safeguards) Rules 2021 is the establishment of the office, which can be done by registering.
According to industry sources, Twitter and Meta are still hesitant about conflicting policies.
After registering and setting up offices, the social media sites will need to adhere to Pakistani laws and regulations.
To safeguard the security of the data, the guidelines also mandate that social media companies keep their “servers” in Pakistan.
All platforms’ data is currently kept outside of the nation.
The IT minister recently voiced optimism that other social media companies would open operations in Pakistan, but according to industry sources, Twitter and Meta have so far shown hesitation.
A senior executive of one of the nation’s telecom firms claimed that both Twitter and Meta were going through drastic organizational changes and had let go of a significant number of staff members both locally and abroad.
“The members of negotiating teams for Pakistan in Meta, representing Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp have been changed, therefore no headway is expected in discussions with Meta and Twitter,” the executive said.
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