Disconnected: How internet outages held back Pakistan in 2024

Freelancer Zainub Khatib felt helpless in her home in Karachi, Pakistan’s financial hub, as she tried her best to deliver her project to an international client while her internet kept faltering repeatedly. Meanwhile, Syeda Aatika, a university student in Lahore, struggled to submit her end-of-year assignments because her home Wi-Fi network was down for the third consecutive day.

These are not isolated incidents but snapshots of a bigger problem that gripped the entire country throughout 2024 - a year plagued by persistent internet troubles that not only disrupted Pakistanis’ daily lives but slowed down the IT-based economy and challenged the nation’s digital future.

Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) Chairman Sajjad Mustafa Syed told Geo.tv that the country ranks among the top freelancing nations and has the capacity to grow drastically - if the hurdles are removed.

“We are one of the fastest-growing export sectors in our economy; the largest employers of youth, empowering over 600,000 skilled labour force, and 2.37 million freelancers,” he said, citing a Pakistan Freelancers Association (PAFLA) and Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) report. “Around 3 million households today are dependent on IT and IT-related exports. With consistent policies and stable infrastructure, this figure has the potential to reach $15 billion by 2030,” he added.

Despite such potential to thrive in the digital sphere, Pakistan bore the brunt of recurring internet outages and disruptions throughout 2024 while the rest of the world became increasingly reliant on internet connectivity. This brought forward some important issues in infrastructure, governance, and policymaking as these disruptions affected businesses, education, and the country’s position in the global IT sector. In 2023, internet disruptions were already gaining momentum as a concerning issue for the entire country. However, 2024 is now coming to an end, and, looking back, one can’t help but notice how internet disruptions worsened into a nationwide crisis.

From complete shutdowns during political protests to technical failures in undersea cables, connectivity was anything but stable. As a result, nationwide disruptions became alarmingly common, particularly when authorities sought to curb dissent. Let’s dive a little deeper into the major events that shaped the internet connectivity crisis that grappled the country all year long.

As Pakistan observed nationwide general elections on February 8, internet and mobile services were disrupted. Journalists, both local and international, struggled with media coverage of the election, including the results transmission. However, officials linked the forced internet shutdown to security concerns after several people were killed in militant attacks on the eve of elections.

Days after turbulent elections, on February 10, access to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, was blocked by authorities citing national security concerns once again. The platform remains largely inaccessible without a virtual private network (VPN) despite activists, civil society members, and several court orders calling for the ban to be removed.

As the year of internet disruptions went on, users turned to VPNs to be rescued from the whirlwind of constant restrictions on internet and social media access. However, they were slammed with yet another set of difficulties as the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in August, asked IT companies, call centres, freelancers, foreign missions, and embassies to register their VPNs, saying that this was part of an effort to curb its misuse and tackle security concerns. The regulatory body found little success in its campaign. This was followed by the Ministry of Interior calling for a ban on VPNs, citing “increasing risks to national security and public morality”. But, as the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016 doesn’t authorise such bans, the PTA introduced regulatory measures, balancing cybersecurity concerns with the needs of the IT sector, instead.

In its latest efforts to streamline the registration process, the PTA introduced a new licencing category. This allows companies to apply for permits to provide VPN services. This move aims to allow authorities to monitor VPN traffic more effectively, addressing concerns regarding the anonymity that proxy networks offer. In an official statement on December 19, the PTA announced the resumption of issuing a Class Licence for Data services to service providers in Pakistan.

Now, with its new VPN licencing framework, local companies will be required to comply with Pakistan’s laws, terms of their licences, and regulatory provisions while offering proxy services to users. Despite the grim outlook, tech industry leaders and digital rights experts still see some hope for Pakistan in overcoming its internet woes as they believe that investing in advanced infrastructure and partnerships may be the way out of this crisis.

Pakistan’s internet troubles in 2024 serve as a wake-up call for the nation. The disruptions that plagued the entire year highlighted systematic weaknesses that, if left unaddressed, could hinder the country’s progress in an increasingly digital world.

This year proved to be a lesson for the entire country and, taking decisive action, it has the opportunity to transform its challenges into a foundation for a more connected, prosperous future.

—The writer is a Geo.tv staffer