According to cybersecurity firm and VPN provider Surfshark, Pakistan promised in the 2021 UN resolution to protect the right to a free internet but has since placed seven restrictions.
The in question UN resolution seeks to safeguard and advance human rights, but several of its backers, like Pakistan, have gone back on their commitments.
The 2021 UN Human Rights Council (HRC) Resolution on the promotion, protection, and enjoyment of human rights on the internet was the subject of a study by Surfshark that examined the positions taken by various UN member states.
Surfshark was able to identify 15 countries that professed to support the resolution but afterwards “broke their word” by imposing information restrictions by comparing their positions with information from its Internet Shutdown Tracker.
Internet Outage Occurrences in Pakistan Since 2021
Seven times now, Pakistan has violated the 2021 resolution, with three of those instances occurring in the previous month amid the detention of former prime minister Imran Khan.
The internet was also shut down three times in 2022: once when Khan organized a march to the capital and twice when Khan’s speech was live-streamed.
Of the nations who also “broke their word” about the 2021 resolution, Pakistan has the third-highest number of restrictions that were imposed after (or during) the resolution, trailing only India and Sudan.
Speaking on behalf of Surfshark, Gabriele Racaityte-Krasauske says, “The UN resolution on human rights on the Internet aims to make countries openly condemn these shutdowns and other ways of restricting online speech. However, it’s concerning that even though 15 countries publicly supported the resolution, they still imposed internet restrictions.”
India, Sudan, Cuba, Uzbekistan, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Senegal, Russia, Brazil, Armenia, Indonesia, Mauritania, Nigeria, Somalia, and Ukraine are among the nations that backed the 2021 UN resolution but “broke their word” by doing otherwise.
There were 66 internet outages overall in these 15 nations during or after the resolution’s adoption, according to Surfshark’s Internet Shutdown Tracker.
- With 21 internet outages since the resolution’s passage in 2021 (and more if we include the Jammu & Kashmir region), India stands out as the nation that has “broken its word” the most.
- After supporting the 2021 resolution, Sudan experienced the second-highest number of restrictions (9), with the first one being after the military takeover in 2021.
- At the time the resolution was adopted, there were restrictions on Nigeria and Ukraine; however, no further limits have been imposed since then. A month before to the adoption, Twitter was blocked in Nigeria; the prohibition was in place until January 2022.
- As part of ongoing sanctions in response to the invasion of Crimea, Ukraine prohibited popular Russian apps back in 2017.
To read our blog on “After Chairman P@SHA struggle, internet resumes from May 12,” click here.
