As we continue the campaign against internet censorship, we feel it is crucial to inform supporters in order to maintain momentum. Civil society groups both within and outside Pakistan have been working collectively against the impending internet censorship in Pakistan.
Bushra Gohar, Memeber of National Assembly (ANP), informed us that the Ministry has decided to shelve it plans. Media report can be found here . However, at the time of writing this update, we are currently campaigning to get the government and netsweeper to disclose whether the technology was sold to Pakistan after a Citizen Lab report revealed that Netsweeper web filters were found on an IP belonging to the Pakistan Telecommunications Limited.
Our Campaign was highlighted as one of the most successful campaigns of the year after our Director was listed amongst the Top 100 Global Thinkers for the Foreign Policy Magazine.
The timeline below enlists statement and media coverage the issue has received thus far.
Day one press release:
Day two press release:
- Electronic Frontier Foundation issued a statement: https://www.eff.org/
deeplinks/2012/02/not-a-hoax- pakistan-requests-proposals- national-filtering-and- blocking-system - An online petition for national audience to demand an end to censorship ( http://bolobhi.org/
activities/petitions/pakistan- )stop-the-firewall/ - We issued letters to CEO’s of international companies likely to apply ( http://bolobhi.org/pakistan-
anti-censorship-campaign-get- ) started online campaign and also a petition ( http://bolobhi.org/the-ceos-to-commit/ activities/petitions/ )censorship-is-big-business-it- should-not-be/ - Bushra Gohar raised issue with the ministry of IT and spoke to relevant.
- Business Human Rights Centre Committed to send our letter to the CEO’s and petitions to the organizations directly
- Websense issued a statement saying they will not sell the technology and asked others to do the same ( http://bolobhi.org/press-
release-public-statements/ ) statement (http://community.websense.civil-society-thank-websense/ com/blogs/websense-insights/ )archive/2012/03/02/say-no-to- government-censorship-of-the- internet-in-pakistan.aspx? cmpid=pr - GNI issued a statement ( http://www.
globalnetworkinitiative.org/ ) They are huge and have a lot of impact.newsandevents/GNI_Statement_ on_Pakistan_s_Request_for_ Proposals_for_an_Internet_ Filtering_and_Blocking_System. php - Electronic Frontier Foundation issued a statement, lauding our efforts and asking other companies to take websense lead ( https://www.eff.org/
deeplinks/2012/03/filtering- )software-companies-should- follow-websenses-lead - Human rights first issued statement ( http://www.humanrightsfirst.
org/2012/03/02/websense- )applauded-for-response-to- pakistans-call-for-censorship- partner/ - Reporters without borders issued a statement citing our petition and a letter to the Prime Minister and ICT RnD board ( http://en.rsf.org/pakistan-
government-wants-to-create-02- )03-2012,41977.html - Bushra Gohar Reports Ministry’s Plans To Shelve The Firewall http://tribune.com.pk/story/352172/it-ministry-shelves-plan-to-install-massive-url-blocking-system/
Media Coverage:
- New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/
2012/03/03/technology/ pakistan-builds-web-wall-out- in-the-open.html?_r=1&smid=tw- nytimes&seid=auto - Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/
sites/davidthier/2012/03/02/ pakistans-open-war-on-the- internet/ - TIMES: http://www.time.com/
time/quotes/0,26174,2108224, 00.html - Global Voices: http://
globalvoicesonline.org/2012/ 02/28/pakistan-fighting-the- great-firewall/ - Express Tribune: http://tribune.com.pk/story/321958/the-futility-of-censorship/
- Firewall Looming: http://speakforchange.org/firewall-looming-in-pakistan/
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