The Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) comprising global digital media giants have banded together against the government’s newly-introduced social media rules, threatening to suspend services if the laws were not amended.
In a scathing letter written to Prime Minister Imran Khan, the AIC — which includes Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple, Amazon, Airbnb, Line, LinkedIn, and Yahoo, among others — said it was difficult for them to operate when such rules were in place.
“The rules as currently written would make it extremely difficult for AIC Members to make their services available to Pakistani users and businesses,” read the letter, referring to the Citizens Protection Rules (Against Online Harm).
What do the new rules say?
The new set of regulations makes it compulsory for social media companies to open offices in Islamabad, build data servers to store information, and take down content upon identification by authorities. Failure to comply with the authorities in Pakistan will result in heavy fines and possible termination of services.