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How does one sound like a good Muslim, as well as an advocate of free speech and anti-censorship all at the same time?
That may be a dilemma for the tiny minority of Pakistan that is baffled by the Pakistani Telecom Authority’s censorship rampage but doesn’t quite know how to denounce it without being labeled as someone who has little respect for Islam – after all, everything being banned is to uphold the sanctity of the religion.
This month, Twitter agreed to remove various ‘blasphemous’ and ‘unethical’ content from its website after five requests were made by an official at the PTA. Hardly anyone has cried out at this, given the nature of the content — for if you protest, you may indirectly be claiming that you are okay with such material being posted online.
But that really isn’t the debate, is it?
Our shortsighted officials are ever eager to be the champions of online purity but remain oblivious to the vicious crimes committed on ground in the name of religion.
They are at the top of their game when it comes to monitoring porn sites but are failures when it comes to protecting basic human rights. Why the over-efficiency only in matters of blocking technology then? Why not close down hate-filled groups in the country, causing damages to property worth millions before jumping online to protect a tiny minority from unethical content on the web?
Do we, the educated internet-savvy community really need more protection online than the victims of actual violence and terror in the country? More so, does the PTA consider us incapable of making informed decisions on our own?
What to watch, what to read and what to hear is one’s personal choice and it is a pity that living in a ‘democratic’ country in 2014, we are still unable to exercise that choice.
In this most recent case, Twitter has argued that it is better to block certain offensive tweets which are in violation of local laws, as opposed to banning the whole website. It maintains a record of every request it has agreed to, which are easily viewable by any internet user.
Although it was the first time Twitter had agreed to block content in Pakistan, the public of this country is not new to bans. YouTube, the video-sharing portal remains banned, Twitter had briefly been banned earlier and even IMDb, the popular movie rating website was briefly blocked.
The implications of these bans and shutdowns go far beyond just saving Pakistan from hate content. In the race to purify the nation from Western trouble-mongers, we are ignoring the proponents of hate walking amongst us. Hate is brewed constantly by our very own against other sects, other religions and faiths.
We are also regrettably being left behind in the technological world because somehow we have made ourselves believe that God had entrusted us and only us to be the saviours.
Crying out for freedom of speech becomes tricky in Pakistan because of the nature of the content being blocked. Where many would agree that freedom of speech is a fundamental right, it becomes irrelevant when it is used to belittle one’s religion. How is then one supposed to find their way around protesting such actions?
PTA has decided to act on behalf of millions and control what we can and cannot see.
No point then in denouncing China for its firewalls, when we are heading down the same road.