It is not simply a matter of being interrupted, or even delayed, while downloading a cat video. It is not a matter even of unhindered access to pornography sites through a VPN. There are substantial monetary costs to be incurred by shutting down VPNs and because of the internet slowdowns caused by the testing of a firewall. Though the government has taken the position that it will shut down unregistered VPNs because they are used to access pornographic websites, the real reason is because they are used to access the banned X website, formerly known as Twitter. X was the social media platform of choice for the Pakistan Tehrik Insaf. It perhaps thus inevitable that Mufti Raghib Hussain Naeemi, whose declaration of the Chiarman of the Council of Islamic Ideology that VPNs could be banned, caused much angst and was answered by Maulana Tariq Jameel, who spoke in favour of VPNs. Thus a technical and legal issue became subject to politics.
IT exports have been growing at about 30 percent, and at that rate, will reach $5billion a year, in five years. The government has repeatedly said that it looks to IT exports to help the country get out of the debt trap. However, by slowing down the Internet, it is creating a poor impression of the country worldwide, not to mention ensuring that IT companies miss deadlines. Shutting down unregistered VPNs creates a race between registration and the loss of business, with clients abroad insisting on VPNs to ensure security. It should not be forgotten that Pakistani IT professionals and companies are trying to make their place in a market in which Bangalore got a chokehold. This was not a coincidence, but occurred because of the IITs that were founded in the 1950s. For Pakistanis to suffer reputational loss because of the government horsing around makes no sense.
There must be a balance struck between genuine security needs and growth. It was by concentrating a tad too hard on national security in the 1950s that we had the lopsided growth of the 1960s that led to the break-up of Pakistan. The institutions which have taken enough interest growth to have established the Special Investment Facilitation Council, should not forget that IT is one of the areas where interest in investment has been shown from abroad.
