A Pakistani man tries to access Skype following the ban in Sindh province (Asif Hassan / AFP)
A Pakistani province has temporarily banned the use of Skype over fears that terrorist networks have ditched cellular phones in favour of online communication programmes.
“Terrorists and criminal elements are using these networks to communicate after the government launched a crackdown on them in Karachi, the country’s economic capital,” said Information Minister Sharjil Memon.
Authorities in Sindh province have also banned similar online services: Viber, Whatsapp and Tango. The decision was made at a high level meeting attended by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and officials of police and intelligence agencies.
Last month, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered a targeted operation in Karachi, which remains plagued by terrorism, sectarian violence, mafia-style politics and street crimes.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, as many as 1,742 people, including 100 policemen and paramilitary ranger personnel, have been killed in violence in the city during the first six months of 2013.
“Criminal elements and terrorists have switched their networks. They used to communicate through cellular phones, but now, they have become clever and have started using internet telephony,” the minister said.
“But we don’t have access to these networks. We have written to the federal government to establish contacts with these companies to have access. Until then, this service will remain suspended for three months and we apologize for that.”
The federal government has however opposed the move. “I will go through the request to see how much weight it carries,” Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said, adding that he was personally against any such move.
Pakistan blocked YouTube in September last year when clips from a controversial film, Innocence of Muslims, triggered violent protests in the country, killing 13 people. The ban remains in effect.
The country has banned Facebook and temporarily suspended mobile phone voice and text messaging services on several occasions in the past three years. The Facebook ban has since been lifted.
