M. S Thesis Proposal

Cause and Effect of Internet Censorship in Pakistan

Saba Afaq

MEM-8

(Full - Time)

Supervisor

Dr. Amir Kashif

Department Of Engineering Management, Collage of electrical and mechanical engineering, NUST

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Table of Contents

1 Summary....................................................................................................................................3

2 Problem statement and Research objectives............................................................................4

3 Background and Related Search...............................................................................................5

4 Methods and Subjects...............................................................................................................8

5 Procedures................................................................................................................................9

6 Data Analysis.........................................................................................................................11

7 References..............................................................................................................................11

8 Time line................................................................................................................................12

9 Budget...................................................................................................................................12

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Cause and Effect of Internet Censorship in Pakistan

1. Summary

Over the years, the Internet has democratized the flow of information. Unfortunately, in parallel, authoritarian regimes and other entities (such as ISPs) for their vested interests have curtailed this flow by partially or fully censoring the web. The policy, mechanism, and extent of this Censorship varies from country to country. In Pakistan for the past several years, members of government security agencies have been directly participating in internet blocking and filtering. Justifications advanced for blocking and filtering include the fight against terrorism, condemnation of blasphemy and of pornography, as well as the protection of national interests.

Now, the question arises that to which extent web blocking need to be done that it can protect the very basic right of citizens of Pakistan, the free flow of information. Despite limited access, the Internet has brought positive benefits to Pakistan through economic growth, education, entrepreneurship and cultural sharing but after 2012, due to increasing web blocking people are unable to access many informative sites

This study aims to find out the cause and effect of internet censorship in Pakistan. Based on the above mentioned dilemma, we have designed these two most relevant research questions

1.) To determine and evaluate what are the major considerations and background of Internet censorship in Pakistan, and 2) how the public in Pakistan is being influenced by internet censorship and how it is violating internet freedom and rights of free speech and opinion?

It is hoped that this study will clear the situation that how much Internet censorship is required and how public is getting influenced by increasing web blocking .These results will similarly help public by raising awareness of importance of freedoms on the internet in the country by linking it with other basic human rights.

For the first research question literature review has been performed that includes internet filtering mechanism, its types, internet censorship mechanism and background in Pakistan. The second research question requires survey methods like case study, questionnaire and interviews to know the cause and effect of internet censorship.

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2. Problem statement

In Pakistan for the past several years, members of government security agencies have been directly participating in internet blocking and filtering. Justifications advanced for blocking and filtering include the fight against terrorism, condemnation of blasphemy and of pornography, as well as the protection of national interests. In recent years, blocking and arbitrary filtering of content have responded to the interests of the armed forces and the political class. The government bases its action on laws that do not focus specifically on the web, but which include anti-blasphemy laws and the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1996. The internet is barely mentioned in these statutes. Unfortunately, religion is used and abused in several ways in day-to-day life in Pakistan. The government of Pakistan is also aware of the high level influence religion enjoys in the society. This is why all the dictators in the past and the current government as well, have tried to exploit it by starting a wave of censorship on the basis of banning anything which they consider goes against religion. This approach lets them sell the idea of censorship to the masses. This is how we have seen censorship as a policy get popular acceptance in society and then gradually widened its scope to control political discourse. This proves that the ethical codes of religion take precedence over constitutional provisions and certain human rights, such as freedom of speech and expression in Pakistan.

The goal of this project is to twofold (1. To determine and evaluate what are the major considerations and background of Internet censorship in Pakistan, and 2) how the public in Pakistan is being influenced by internet censorship and how it is violating internet freedom and rights of free speech and opinion?

Stated more briefly:

3. Research Objectives

Research objective 1: What are the major reasons and causes of Internet censorship and their evaluation in Pakistan?

Research objective 2: How internet censorship in Pakistan is violating human rights and freedom of speech?

These questions are extremely relevant to ongoing debate of what to do about increasing blocking of sites in Pakistan since half decade. The importance of internet rights is no longer limited to freedom of expression and opinion. Restricting internet freedom now adversely affects many other rights in areas such as education, economy, health, women’s rights, participation in policy-making, freedom of association and peaceful assembly and reduces the overall quality of life for citizens.

It is hoped that this study will clear the situation that how much Internet censorship is required and how public is getting influenced by increasing web blocking .These results will similarly help public by raising awareness of importance of freedoms on the internet in the country by linking it with other basic human

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rights and how the government can distort the basic rights of free expression and opinion by blocking content on the internet.

4. Background and Related Search

What is Internet censorship?

The Internet is considered today as the most important technology available worldwide. It has become an important tool not only for research and communication but also for everyday activities from transportation to shopping, eating, drinking, and entertaining. These days, “Text messaging,” “chat rooms,” “blogs,” and “e-zones.” are just a few of the new Internet tools for spreading information and opinions. However, most people see the Internet as a sword with two edges. On one hand, it has made the world smaller by connecting people, spreading news and facilitating access to valuable information. On the other hand, it has become a threat to mankind by providing access to dangerous materials that are considered harmful and objectionable.

In order to prevent the Internet from causing harm and endangering the life of innocent people andat the same time benefiting from the wealth of information it contains, governments, organizations and families started using some kind of software to prevent access to such materials. Internet filtering is the term used to prevent users from accessing specific materials such as websites, WebPages, blogs, or any materials available online. In addition, as Internet activity expands worldwide, methods of filtering have become more far-reaching. Today a number of nations censor Internet communication in some fashion. Internet filtering software, internet blocking software, and censor ware are used interchangeably as tools to prevent Internet users from accessing or viewing materials that are considered unsafe or inappropriate.

While many people support and encourage the use of these software to protect their children and communities, others see them as tools to deprive people from their own right to access information freely, and consider them tools for censorship. [1]

What are Filters?

Controlling access to the Internet by means of filtering software has become a growth industry in the U.S. and elsewhere. Its use has increased as the mandatory response to the current plagues of society, namely, pornography, violence, hate, and in general, anything seen to be unpleasant or threatening. Filters are programs that are designed to restrict access to Web sites, newsgroups, and chat rooms by a variety of techniques.

How do filters work?

It is important to distinguish among different strategies for limiting access to Websites and newsgroups. The simplest approach is to compile a list of URLs and newsgroups that are to be blocked. Such a list must be continuously updated given the dynamic growth of the Internet. A substantial number of individuals must be employed to perform this function and must operate under an agreed upon and closely followed set of guidelines. Such filters require that users regularly download the updated banned site list and simply adopt it because of the near impossibility of evaluating its quality or determining whether or not it meets their concerns. For some filters, users can add newly discovered unacceptable sites to the banned list. The default strategy is to accept the judgment of others, namely, profit-making corporations subject to marketplace pressures in determining which sites are off limits.

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Another strategy is to compile a list of English keywords, which characterize the material in Web sites that is judged unacceptable for viewing. This list can be regularly modified to reflect more precise descriptions or new concerns. Keywords, even Boolean combinations of keywords, are a rather poor representation of the meaning of texts and therefore may block otherwise acceptable sites.

The last general category of blocking or filtering strategies is similar to systems used to rate music on CDs and cassettes, movies, and television shows. Simply put, Web sites would be expected to rate their content along several dimensions including sexual explicitness, nudity, violent language and violent graphics. The ratings, on simple numeric scales, can be combined into a profile that characterizesfor a given user, an envelope for acceptable sites. For example, if a site's ratings exceed the profile along even one dimension, that site will be blocked by the browser. Such a system requires, among other things, that sites rate themselves. [2]

Internet censorship mechanism in Pakistan:

Introduction:

Internet filtering in Pakistan is regulated by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) under the direction of the government, the Supreme Court ofPakistan and the Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT). In 2010, Pakistan made global headlines for blocking Face book and other Web sites in response to a contest popularized on the social networking site to draw images of the Prophet Mohammad. In general, Internet filtering in Pakistan remains both inconsistent and intermittent, with filtering primarily targeted at content deemed to be a threat to national security and at religious content considered blasphemous. [3]

In mid-2012 Pakistanis had relatively free access to a wide range of content, including most sexual, political, social, and religious sites on the Internet. The Open Net Initiative listed Internet filtering in Pakistan as substantial in the conflict/security area, and as selective in the political, social, and Internet tools areas in August 2012. And Freedom House rated Pakistan's "Freedom on the Net Status" as "Not Free" in its Freedom on the Net 2013 report.

Although the majority of filtering in Pakistan is intermittent such as the occasional block on a major Web site like BlogSpot or YouTube , the PTA continues to block sites containing content it considers to be blasphemous, anti-Islamic, or threatening to internal security. Online civil society activism that began in order to protect free expression in the country continues to expand as citizens utilize new media to disseminate information and organize. [4]

Role of governing bodies in internet censorship:

A wide range of agencies are involved in the censorship of online content, making the process opaque at best. PTA and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), under the control of Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) and Inter-Ministerial committee for Evaluation of Websites (IMCEW) are the responsible bodies for filtering and blocking content in Pakistan. The IMCEW, which reportedly comprises various representatives of ministries and Intelligence agencies, evaluates websites and the directives are then sent to the PTA through MoIT. PTA then disseminates the directives to ISPs. However, according to recent reports, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) is also responsible for blocking and monitoring grey traffic without any legal mandate.

Laws cited for censoring content:

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Several provisions from Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996 provide support for censorship of the content that comes under the broader categories of national security and religious sentiments. Section 31 (d) of the Act creates criminal penalties for dissemination of information which can be considered false, indecent, or obscene. This Act has been used throughout the years to justify blanket bans on international websites. Article 19, an international organization that works for freedom of expression and information, also dissected the PTA Act and found the legislation to be vague and giving open-ended powers to authorities that violate freedom of expression and other human rights. The Act has also been used to ban and block all internet encryption in the name of anti-terrorism.

Apart from the PTA Act, Section 99 of the Pakistan Penal Code is also used to censor content on digital spaces that is considered prejudicial to the ‘national interest’. This section helps the state to justify filtering what it considers to be anti-military, blasphemous, and anti-state content.

Another most used provision of the Pakistan Penal Code on digital spaces is section 295-A, which forbids “deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of the citizens of Pakistan, by words, either spoken or written”.[5]

Cause and effect of Internet censorship in Pakistan:

In Pakistan, only around 20 million out of 187 million people have access to the Internet. Despite limited access the Internet has brought positive benefits to Pakistan through economic growth, education, entrepreneurship and cultural sharing. Pakistan banned YouTube in September after clips of the movie "Innocence of Muslims" sparked protests because they were considered blasphemous for defaming Islam's Prophet Muhammad. The country had earlier tried to ban YouTube in 2008. It had temporarily banned Facebook over controversial caricatures of Muhammad in 2010. It also pulled the plug on Twitter last year for the same reason.

Google has restricted access to the videos in Indonesia, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Turkey. In addition, the videos were temporarily restricted from view in Egypt and Libya.

But the company does not have a filtered YouTube version for Pakistan because its takes time to research the country's laws and building partnerships with local content creators.. The country's assertive Supreme Court has reportedly ordered its own probe into "blasphemous" material on the Internet .The court has taken up a new case that is seeking to block "ever-increasing blasphemous material circulating in the Internet domain, having for reaching implications on the minds, the lives and liberties of mainstream Muslim population." [6]

 

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5. Methods and Subjects

The problem statement indicates that this study represents cause and effect relationship. There are two

variables on which study is based. The first is “main reasons of web blocking” which is cause and second

variable is “its effect on freedom of speech and expression”. So by observing the nature of research

questions, the study will design based on descriptive research methods.

For first research question which is descriptive in nature we will use “case study method”.

1) A case study is an in-depth analysis of a person, group, or phenomenon. Case studies cannot be

generalized to the overall population (as in an experiment) nor provide predictive power (as in correlation

research). They do not allow researchers to identify cause and effect relationships, nor test hypotheses.

They can, however, provide extensive information for the development of new hypotheses for future

testing, and provide information about a rare or otherwise hard to study event or condition.

Case studies techniques such as personal interviews, direct observation, and an archival record will be

used to gather information.

For Second research question, where we are observing the effect of increasing web blocking on human

rights that include freedom of speech and expression , there are two variables , which has a causal

relationship. One is” web blocking” and second is “violation of internet rights”.

For second research question, we will use survey techniques that include (questionnaire, Personal

interviews and Delphi method) to find out what people know about internet freedom and to raise

awareness of internet rights.

Population:

Division of population

Students of collage and universities

Public sector and private sector employees

Non working class that includes house wives and retired people.

People of all age groups

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6. Procedures

For First research question:

The most common type of descriptive research is the case study, which provides an in-depth analysis of a specific person, group, or phenomenon. For this study, we will perform case studies of developed countries like China and USA and compare it with Pakistan. While findings cannot be generalized to the overall population, they can provide important information for future research.

For completing the case study method, the four main steps will be followed

1) posing research questions

2) gathering data

3) data analysis

4) Interpretation

Sample:Another important component in case study method is to emphasize unit of analysis and description of the sample. It is important to restrict your population as it is impossible to consider entire population for collecting data. In Pakistan, there are 16 million users of Internet or 9% of total population (World Bank, 2012). We have to collect sample from this 9% population.  How will we sample?

Sr.no Population Sample size1) We need equal number of males

and females. 5000 samples from each Sex.

2) How many students do we need 100 samples from each top university and collages of Pakistan

3) We want equal representation of public sector and private sector employees

50 respondents from each organization

4) we want equal representation from freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors

500 from each category

5) Non working class that includes house wives and retired people.

500 samples from each category

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For Second research question:

We will use survey techniques

1) Questionnaire:

Distributing carefully designed questionnaires to all or a sample of population would be one possible approach. There are some key steps to follow when constructing questionnaires. By following these steps we will enhance the quality of the information we able to obtain and also ensure that this information is in a form that can be objectively analyzed.

2) The Delphi Method:

The Delphi method is a survey technique that involves the use of questionnaires in an attempt to get consensus on a topic. Subjects respond to a first questionnaire, then based on these responses a second questionnaire is developed and administered. Each time the questionnaire is administered is called a "round. Using the Delphi method we could survey knowledgeable students and employees, each time sharing the different perspectives obtained, in an attempt to identify critical issues and perspectives.

3) Personal Interviews:

This is the most important part of our study design. Interviews will help to know the feelings and perspectives of public about internet censorship in more detail.

These are some important questions which we will address in interviews:

Why there is little to no coverage of internet rights violations and bans imposed by the government of Pakistan on the electronic media?

Why print media as a whole also ignores these issues?

What is the main reason why mainstream media is ignoring this important platform?

Do people know what internet freedom is?

To which extent people are aware of effectiveness of Internet?.

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Internet rights have become a key indicator to gauge the situation of civil liberties that a society enjoys in a country in the modern day world.

6. Data Analysis

SPSS software will be used to statistically analyze the collected data from the questionnaires and

interviews.

Data management (case selection, file reshaping, creating derived data) and data documentation

(a metadata dictionary is stored in the data file) will also done through SPSS.

Statistics included in the software:

Descriptive statistics: Cross tabulation, Frequencies, Descriptives, Explore, Descriptive Ratio

Statistics

Bivariate statistics: Means, t-test, ANOVA, Correlation (bivariate, partial,

distances), Nonparametric tests

Prediction for numerical outcomes: Linear regression

Prediction for identifying groups: Factor analysis, cluster analysis (two-step, K-means,

hierarchical), Discriminant.

7. References

[1] http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4492629

[2] http://www.copacommission.org/papers/rosenberg.pdf

[3] http://access.opennet.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/accesscontested-pakistan.pdf

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_Pakistan#Overview

[5] http://bolobhi.org/resources/state-of-internet-in-pakistan-e-regulations-timeline

[6] http://www.rferl.org/content/gandhara-pakistan-youtube-ban/25016243.html

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8. Timeline

Rough Time Line:

September - October 2014:

Collection of related data and previous work to perform literature review Prepare , review and analyze questionnaire based on literature review

Prepare interview questions for different categories of population

Pilot study through friends and relatives

November – December 2014:

Conduct the surveys, interviews and case studies through multiple ways.

January – February 2014:

Discussion                  Interpretation of results Generalization Discussion of implications Conclusion and recommendation

9. Budget

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Cost Estimates Rupees (Rs)

Cost incurred to develop questionnaires 5000

Traveling cost to conduct interviews 20,000

Others 5000

Total 30,000

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