The Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) warned on Thursday that Pakistan’s economy might suffer losses of up to $300 million due to internet disruptions resulting from the implementation of a national firewall.
Islamabad is introducing an internet firewall to oversee and control content on social media platforms, according to local media. The government has denied using the firewall for censorship purposes.
Ali Ihsan, Senior Vice Chairman of P@SHA, stated that the firewall has led to extended internet outages and inconsistent VPN performance, posing a severe risk to business operations.
He warned that the firewall’s disruptions are severely impacting business operations and could result in financial losses up to $300 million or more.
Pakistan’s telecommunication authority and Minister of State for Information Technology, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, have not yet commented on the issue. Earlier, Khawaja stated that the government does not intend to use firewalls for censorship.
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Since the February elections, during which former Prime Minister Imran Khan‘s party faced a crackdown, access to the social media platform X has been blocked in Pakistan.
P@SHA expressed concerns that the government’s lack of transparency regarding the firewall has led to significant distrust among internet users and global IT clients, who worry about data security and privacy.
The association called for an immediate halt to the firewall and urged the government to collaborate with the industry on a cybersecurity framework.
Pakistan’s IT sector saw substantial growth, with exports reaching $298 million in June, a 33% increase from the previous year. For the fiscal year ending in June, IT exports totaled $3.2 billion, marking a 24% rise from $2.5 billion in the previous fiscal year.
