For Immediate Release Cybercrime Bill Must Not Be Approved In Its Current Form February 11, 2015: On February 7 and February 9, 2015, Bolo Bhi held consultations with lawyers, activists and technology experts on the proposed cybercrime law i.e. Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2015 in Karachi. Several reservations were raised during the review meetings and there was consensus […]
Call To Be A Part of Alliance for Access
The Alliance for Access has established itself as a nationwide coalition of 13 leading civil society organizations, two media groups and two industry associations, committed to the promotion of access and digital rights. Access to the web is fundamentally a right to information issue with the executive exercising arbitrary authority to censor and block content […]
Twitter Reverses Blocking Decision Amid Criticism
18.06.2014 Karachi: Twitter announced, today, that it is restoring access to content it earlier blocked on request of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), ‘in the absence of additional clarifying information from Pakistani authorities’. The official announcement states that Twitter re-examined the requests and decided that the reasons provided by authorities were insufficient. It is not about […]
Senator Nasreen Jalil Urges PM to Lift Ban on YouTube
Karachi, 19/05/14: MQM Senator Nasreen Jalil has written to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif urging him to lift the ban on YouTube. Ms Jalil first wrote a letter to the PM on April 24, 2014 stating the ban on YouTube was of great concern to citizens of Pakistan. She mentioned the Senate’s Functional Committee on Human Rights […]
National Assembly Unanimously Passes Resolution to Lift Ban on YouTube
Islamabad 07/05/2014: The National Assembly of Pakistan unanimously passed a resolution, calling upon the ruling Party to lift the ban on YouTube. This resolution was tabled by Member National Assembly Ms Shazia Marri of the PPP (Pakistan Peoples Party). Ms Marri had tabled a resolution to lift the ban on YouTube on April 1, 2014, […]
PTA Says It Does Not Conduct Surveillance
7/05/2014: The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has responded to Bolo Bhi’s request for information regarding surveillance equipment and list of blocked websites. Responding to the requests, the PTA has distanced itself from surveillance, saying it does not carry out surveillance on the internet. PTA was specifically asked for presence of surveillance equipment in Pakistan. According to […]
Freedom Online Coalition Must Hold Canadian Government Responsible
At Bolo Bhi and Digital Rights Foundation we have had a long-standing commitment to working alongside the Freedom Online Coalition on the principles and commitment to fight restrictions on the internet. We believe that forums like Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) are important in engaging with Governments and following up on our commitment to open and […]
Who is the Control Freak in the Cyberspace
The internet cannot be controlled by any one country, despite the best efforts of several governments. As the Snowden leaks reveal, State efforts to control the cyberspace can quickly turn into massive surveillance programmes that infringe on individual rights; a phenomenon quite familiar to Pakistan. Since 2006, authorities in Pakistan have intermittently blocked social media websites such […]
Dailymotion Must Operate in Pakistan Without Compromising Rights of Internet Users
Karachi 26/04/14: As reported by the Express Tribune, the “Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) [has] announced bringing video-sharing website Dailymotion to Pakistan.” However, we take strong exception to the expressed intent with which it is being launched and the statement made by Dailymotion’s VP Distribution and Business Development, Vincent Martin: “Dailymotion would also make the […]
Facebook Transparency Report: Since When Is Criticism of the State Illegal in Pakistan?
Facebook just published its second transparency report, revealing requests it receives from governments around the world for user data and content removal. The report introduces Facebook’s policy of dealing with government requests as “We respond to valid requests relating to criminal cases. Each and every request we receive is checked for legal sufficiency and we […]