Bytes for All, Pakistan

Pakistan is a developing country, which is ranked among the most populated, and to an extent an extremely important role player in shaping the last decade. Not only has it undergone drastic changes from within since the start of War on Terror, but it has also become of core importance in reflecting itself as a model target of complex present day ideological warfare and radicalization.

We, participants in the South Asian Meeting on the Internet and Freedom of Expression, having met in Kathmandu, Nepal, on 2-4 November 2011 to deliberate on the state of freedom of expression in our region in the digital age, and coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka,

Considering the importance of social media and the Internet to the growth and advancement of democracy in our region,

Have adopted the following resolution:

Peshawar, 3 December, 2011: Bytes for All (B4A), Pakistan and Aware Girls, Peshawar jointly organized an event to celebrate women’s power under ‘Take Back The Tech Campaign - To End Violence Against Women!’ A large number of stakeholders attended the event including civil society representatives, human rights defenders, academia, media, university students and larger women rights movement in Peshawar.

On behalf of all concerned citizens of Pakistan, Bytes for All have sent an Open Letter to His Excellency Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, the honourable Prime Minister of Pakistan on the issue of content filtering and SMS ban directive by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). We are very hopeful that the Prime Minister will himself look into this matter for redressal of grievances as raised in this letter. The contents of this letter are pasted below.

Honourable Sir,