KARACHI: The Concerned Citizens for Peace (CCP) is holding a public gathering today (Saturday) at The Arts Council, Karachi, from 6pm to 9pm to commemorate the late Sabeen Mahmud, founder of PeaceNiche and T2F (The Second Floor), and to pay tribute to the other fallen heroes – journalists, workers, and activists – who have been silenced for standing up for justice and freedom of expression in Pakistan.

Sabeen was murdered on April 24, 2015, as she was returning home after organising a discussion on human rights abuses in Balochistan. Her assassination was not the first of its kind, and it took place on a continuum of such developments in Pakistan, along with legal and policy measures that are poised to infringe on civil liberties, such as the action in aid of civil power, Pakistan Protection Act, setting up military courts, and now the proposed cybercrime bill. Speakers at the gathering will address key areas where freedom of speech and those who exercise this freedom are particularly at risk.

There will be talks and recitations by writer and women’s rights activist Amar Sindhu, professor and educationist Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, literary figure and activist FahmidaRiaz, journalist and digital rights activist Farieha Aziz, actor Fawad Khan, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Director IA Rehman, Baloch rights activist Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur, bonded labour activist VeeruKohli, friend and mentor of Sabeen Mahmud ZaheerKidvai and journalist and novelist Mohammed Hanif.

Sounds of Kolachi, a collaborative musical project, will perform resistance songs at the end of the event.

Farieha Aziz, director of Bolo Bhi, has said that the proposed cybercrime bill will directly impact the freedom of expression of Pakistanis.

“The cybercrime bill will affect the average user’s entire activity on the Internet.” Aziz said. “Sending someone an email without getting their permission first could become a crime. In addition, the PTA has been given the power to wipe out anything it considers objectionable from the Internet.”

Journalist and author Mohammed Hanif, who will be speaking at the event, recently highlighted the dangers for journalists in a video message recorded for the CCP.

“A trend has started to silence voices that are unpopular in certain quarters,” Hanif said. “Some voices are bought into silence, some are given jobs to silence them; some are silenced by not giving them a platform. If you are a journalist in Balochistan or the tribal areas, your expected lifespan becomes half that of the average Pakistani’s. Dozens of our fellow journalists from these areas have either been killed, or have left journalism, or have been forced to leave the country.” However, Hanif said we must not think that with the silencing of Sabeen’s voice, the whole city of Karachi should go dumb with fear. “It is critical that we come together,” he said.

Daily Times

We are therefore pleased to see that Twitter has reversed course on its approach to Pakistan. As the New York Times reported, Twitter explained its decision in a statement issued to Chilling Effects. The statement reads:

We always strive to make the best, most informed decisions we can when we’re compelled to reactively withhold identified content in specific jurisdictions around the world. On May 18, 2014, we made an initial decision to withhold content in Pakistan based on information provided to us by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. Consistent with our longstanding policies we provided notice to all of the affected account holders and published the actioned takedown requests on Chilling Effects to maximize transparency regarding our decision. We have reexamined the requests and, in the absence of additional clarifying information from Pakistani authorities, have determined that restoration of the previously withheld content is warranted. The content is now available again in Pakistan.

The initial decision to remove content was criticized by a wide swath of civil society, from advocacy group Bolo Bhi\ in Pakistan to porn actress Belle Knox, whose photos were among the blocked content.

In response to critics who call the blocking of content censorship, Twitter points out that it is one of the few Internet companies that make public the takedown requests they receive. Being transparent about censorship is a vital first step in the struggle for free expression, but Twitter can and should do more. If Twitter wants to be a defender of free expression, it can and should refuse government censorship requests in countries where it is not subject to that country’s censorious laws.

In Russia, Twitter has no offices and no employees. Despite being an entity outside Russian jurisdiction, Twitter removed the account belonging to “Right Sector” (Pravy Sektor)—the Ukrainian nationalist political party characterized by the Russian government as Neo-Nazi fascists—remains censored. Twitter also continues to honor Russian telecom regulator Rozkomnadzor’s requests to take down accounts related to drug use and suicide. We expect to see many more requests from Russia for the censorship of overtly political content when an Orwellian set of laws restricting the Internet and bloggers goes into effect this August.

If Twitter wants to be a leader in honoring freedom of expression and a champion for users, it needs to think seriously about revising its censorship policies. Right now, policy dictates that Twitter will respond to requests from “authorized parties,” including private individuals or organizations, if the content they submit (by mail or fax) is deemed to be illegal. In one instance, Twitter responded not to an official legal order, but to a letter from a French student organization.

This policy creates more opportunities for censorship than those afforded by similar companies, most of which do not offer such a channel. Free speech would better be served by Twitter only responding when legally necessary.

While we commend Twitter on making the right choice in Pakistan, we’ll be keeping a close eye on how the company responds to legal requests in the future.

IFEX