Pakistan installs firewall in censorship drive, hitting businesses

Critics say move curbs freedoms, but government claims national security at risk

20240903 Pakistan gig

Gig workers dependent on online jobs will be badly affected by internet disruptions. © Reuters

ADNAN AAMIR, Contributing writer

ISLAMABAD -- Sajida, a 23-year-old freelance digital content creator, first noticed that WhatsApp stopped working for her in the second week of August. She could not download media files and send voice notes.

"I rely on WhatsApp to send and receive data from my clients, which I then use for content creation," she told Nikkei Asia. "Disruption of this feature on WhatsApp meant I simply could not work."

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