Sawal Yeh Hai | Maria Memon | ARY News | 16th August 2024
#internetdown #Internetoutage #firewall #mariamemon #pmshehbazsharif #sawalyehai #freelancers #socialmedia #pmlngovt #analysis
(Current Affairs)
Host:
- Maria Memon
Guests:
- Senator Afnan Ullah PMLN
- Khurram Rahat (Vice Chairman P@SHA)
- Irfan Malik (CEO Xeven Solutions)
- Warda Noor
Digital Economy Govt Kay Nishanay par Kiyu ...?? Maria Memon's Analysis
"Firewall Install Horahi Hai Jitne Bhi Mobile..." Senator Afnan Ullah Break Shocking News
" Freelancer Ki Duniya Mein Anay Walay Bachay Na Umeed Hogaye Hain."
Follow the ARY News channel on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/46e5HzY
Subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon for latest news updates: http://bit.ly/3e0SwKP
ARY News is a leading Pakistani news channel that promises to bring you factual and timely international stories and stories about Pakistan, sports, entertainment, and business, amid others.
(Current Affairs)
Host:
- Maria Memon
Guests:
- Senator Afnan Ullah PMLN
- Khurram Rahat (Vice Chairman P@SHA)
- Irfan Malik (CEO Xeven Solutions)
- Warda Noor
Digital Economy Govt Kay Nishanay par Kiyu ...?? Maria Memon's Analysis
"Firewall Install Horahi Hai Jitne Bhi Mobile..." Senator Afnan Ullah Break Shocking News
" Freelancer Ki Duniya Mein Anay Walay Bachay Na Umeed Hogaye Hain."
Follow the ARY News channel on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/46e5HzY
Subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon for latest news updates: http://bit.ly/3e0SwKP
ARY News is a leading Pakistani news channel that promises to bring you factual and timely international stories and stories about Pakistan, sports, entertainment, and business, amid others.
Transcript
00:00Assalam-o-Alaikum, I am Mariam Aiman and today's top stories is that the digital economy is
00:16at the top of its game, the government is throttling the internet and the IT industry
00:22and the people of the country are getting affected by this.
00:25We will talk about this in the first part of the program.
00:28When the internet is weak, the online business is destroyed.
00:31In the second part of the program, we will introduce you to the people who are directly
00:35affected by this lockdown.
00:37And in the last part, we will talk about PTI and NMNA.
00:41The Climate Committee of the Senate was concerned about how women are wearing clothes instead
00:47of focusing on real issues.
00:50Let's start with the first part of the program.
00:53Pakistan has been experiencing a slowdown in the internet since last week.
01:02The reason for this has been revealed.
01:05The Internet Services Providers Association has said that the government's decision
01:10to increase security and surveillance has resulted in an unintentional result,
01:14which has reduced the internet speed by 30 to 40 percent.
01:19According to the Internet Services Providers Association, due to a slowdown in the internet,
01:23businessmen who rely on the internet are facing a lot of difficulties.
01:28The impact of the internet has been more on call centers, e-commerce, online working class
01:33and those who do business related to electronics.
01:36According to the Association, those industries that are at the backbone of Pakistan's
01:40growing digital economy are now striving to keep their business affairs stable.
01:48According to the chairman of ISPs, Shehzad Arshad, the situation has become so serious
01:53that many businesses are considering moving their work to other countries.
01:58If this continues, we will see a large-scale export of business from Pakistan.
02:03According to him, the current situation is not only spoiling the national image,
02:07but is also causing economic instability.
02:10This debate also reached the Climate Committee of the Senate.
02:13It is obvious that the representatives of different parties go to their constituencies
02:18and meet people there.
02:19They are aware of the difficulties people are facing due to the internet ban in the country.
02:23Senator Aftanullah, who was in front of the Climate Committee for Information Technology of the Senate,
02:29revealed that the internet has caused a loss of 500 million rupees.
02:35Many e-commerce forums are leaving the country.
02:38The government representatives are also aware of this.
02:40They said that there is no media downloading and uploading on social media and WhatsApp.
02:44The Secretary of State told the committee that this is a matter of networks, not Wi-Fi.
02:49While the Secretary of State further said that it is a matter of mobile operators.
02:54It could be a technical problem that will be solved soon.
02:58In the Climate Committee meeting, it was surprising to see that the PTA officials claimed
03:03that they did not receive any complaints about the internet service.
03:06The PTA had to present the details of the firewall in the Climate Committee.
03:09But the PTA officials changed the agenda due to the lack of details.
03:15It was also said that the issue should be solved within two weeks.
03:18What does the government say?
03:19Shaza Fatima Khawaja says that the firewall is installed all over the world.
03:25It is installed to counter security challenges.
03:28The government has at least admitted that the firewall is installed.
03:31But they say that its purpose is different.
03:34They say that the firewall is installed all over the world.
03:36The firewall is a cyber security measure that every government in the world takes.
03:41International cyber security attacks are happening all over the world.
03:45The issue is created in the media and in the public.
03:53What is the problem?
03:56Is there a problem in the media?
03:58Are people really worried?
04:00Are we imagining this situation?
04:02Are we exaggerating it?
04:04No, we are not exaggerating it.
04:06Because the young people who belong to the freelancing sector,
04:08the platform on which Fiverr operates,
04:10what do they claim?
04:12Let's listen to them.
04:14Because they are associated with this field.
04:16Let's listen to them.
04:18Pakistani freelancers have claimed that
04:20Fiverr, a big freelancing network,
04:22has included Pakistan in the unauthorized category due to the lack of internet service.
04:27Due to the inclusion of Fiverr in this category,
04:29the buyers have been instructed not to get free services from Pakistan.
04:34This is the claim of the freelancers.
04:36Due to the use of VPN,
04:38many accounts of the freelancers have been unauthorized on two major freelancing platforms, Fiverr and Upwork.
04:45Because of this, freelancers are facing severe conditions.
04:50So this claim is made by the freelancers.
04:52Before starting this debate,
04:54let's listen to what the Pakistan Software House Association has to say.
04:57Their figure is very worrisome.
04:59They are talking about up to 30 crore dollars.
05:01Pakistan Software House Association, PASHA, has claimed that
05:04the implementation of firewalls in the country can cause a loss of 30 crore dollars to the Pakistani economy.
05:09They have said in their press release that
05:11internet firewalls are being implemented to monitor social media platforms,
05:14while the government is denying the use of firewalls for censorship.
05:18According to them, the implementation of firewalls has already become the reason for the extinction of the internet.
05:23But now it has become the reason for the destruction of the VPN.
05:27PASHA has said that if the internet continues to deteriorate
05:29and the destruction of the VPN continues,
05:31then it will be the cause of major losses to the business.
05:35They have said that the lack of transparency of the government
05:38has aroused the fire of mistrust between internet enthusiasts and international IT clients in Pakistan.
05:43PASHA has said that the digital blockade should be immediately and unconditionally stopped
05:47because these obstacles are not just obstacles in the way of the internet,
05:50but a direct attack on the development of IT.
05:52Therefore, the government should consult the IT industry for the cybersecurity framework.
05:57In the first part of the program, we will take a look at both political and technical issues.
06:01Senator Dr. Aknalullah Khan is present with us.
06:03He is a member of the Senate Standing Committee on IT.
06:06Since he has himself raised the case that the IT industry is suffering losses,
06:11let's ask him how the government is doing.
06:13I am sure he must have obtained information.
06:15Khurram Rahat is the vice chairman of PASHA.
06:17He is present with us in the studio.
06:18Thank you both for taking out time for this night.
06:20Let's ask the government first.
06:22You did not get the details of the internet slowdown in the last two weeks.
06:29What is the matter?
06:30Is this a trial?
06:32Will it take some time?
06:33Is this time bound?
06:35Should we wait for a week or a few days?
06:38In the name of God, the most merciful.
06:41The official information will come after two weeks.
06:45Let me tell you about my research.
06:49A firewall is being installed.
06:52It is being installed on the mobile telecom operators' systems.
06:58The testing has been going on initially.
07:02Now it is in the implementation phase.
07:05The implementation has been completed.
07:07We have been told that the situation will improve in the next three days.
07:11It was better today than yesterday.
07:16There are issues on some networks.
07:18There are no issues on some networks.
07:20Let me correct something.
07:23The loss of 500 million dollars has been reported by the media many times.
07:25Let me explain it.
07:27I had said that the exports of 500 million dollars will be of freelancers or more.
07:32And that is being affected.
07:34They are using it at stake instead of the loss.
07:37Let me tell you the breakdown.
07:39Pakistan's exports of IT are of 9 million dollars per day.
07:45If you include the revenues of the technology companies,
07:50like our rider-hailing companies,
07:54that goes up to at least 20-25 million dollars per day.
07:59If you slow down the internet in your country,
08:04it will only impact the exporters.
08:07It will also impact the rider-hailing companies.
08:10They have to work every day and earn money every day.
08:13This is one aspect.
08:16Let me tell you the second aspect.
08:18The issue of national security is that our cyber space was open.
08:25Our data was stolen.
08:28We did not know who was coming and what was happening.
08:32I think it is a good thing to install a firewall to monitor it.
08:38But we will use VPN because we understand this issue technically.
08:41Are we not compromising too much?
08:43If everyone is using the VPN of the Prime Minister,
08:46is it advisable that the Prime Minister, your Ministry,
08:49and all your important officials are using VPN?
08:52I have used VPN professionally.
08:59If the company is fine, it is not a problem.
09:02But of course, if you are using a random free service,
09:06then your data can be compromised.
09:09This is a threat.
09:11Government machinery should not operate on VPN so easily.
09:14Would you advise that?
09:16I would advise to use VPN only when it is necessary.
09:20Do not use it otherwise.
09:22But keep in mind that VPN is not just used when you open Twitter.
09:27It is also used professionally.
09:29There are many programmers and developers
09:32who have actual use cases that need to be used.
09:35We use it only because we are common citizens.
09:38We are not technical savvy.
09:40Mr. Khurram, you are satisfied with this explanation.
09:43He is saying that it will be fine in 2-3 days.
09:45After testing, the implementation is as if it is choked.
09:51Is there such a thing as a choked test?
09:57No, there is no such thing.
09:59But there is technology.
10:01So, there can be problems with technology.
10:04It is not as if it is choked.
10:12But if there is no proper testing on the implementation,
10:19there can be such situations.
10:24The senator said that the government can give clarity
10:30whether things will be fine in 2-3 days or not.
10:34But there is a fact that there has been a disruption.
10:41He is right that freelancers and e-commerce riders have been affected.
10:47Apart from this, there has been an impact on two other elements.
10:51One is that since COVID-19, work from home has become a norm.
10:58Many organizations are still doing work from home.
11:04There are some remote workers who are also doing international work.
11:07That is an additional impact.
11:10It has an impact not only on exports,
11:13but if we look at our organizations or business institutions in Pakistan,
11:19there has been an impact on efficiency.
11:23Another fact is that we are all using mobile phones these days.
11:28We are all on the go.
11:30We are getting documents, messages, or online meetings on WhatsApp.
11:39So, there is an impact on that too.
11:41There is a direct impact on freelancers and e-commerce.
11:45But there is also an internal impact on efficiency.
11:50And the most important thing is that there has been a reputational loss.
11:55I think in the last one or two years,
11:57the government has focused a lot on Made in Pakistan,
12:01the tech destination.
12:03We have been working a lot with the Ministry of IT,
12:06in which there is a role of software houses.
12:08Pasha has also been involved.
12:10He has also been involved in the software export board.
12:12We are working hard to make Pakistan's reputation as a destination for IT.
12:18So, when such things happen, for whatever reason,
12:21the impact on recovering your reputational loss is very high.
12:28I personally know a company, because a friend of mine works there.
12:31He said, we have moved two projects to Pune.
12:33They have moved Pune from Pakistan to India.
12:36This level of loss…
12:38Why is it happening?
12:39This is why there is a reputational loss.
12:41When people do not see reliability,
12:43when you are impacting with foreign buyers or foreign users,
12:50they will not justify to their users that there is a problem with our service.
12:58If there is no internet in Pakistan, we cannot say sorry.
13:01This is an unfortunate fact, but it is there.
13:04We request that the situation be rectified as soon as possible.
13:09As the Senator said, it will be stabilized in 2-3 days.
13:13God willing, it will be done.
13:15It is not about what has happened.
13:21The loss that has happened so far has happened.
13:23The important thing is that the impact on the future business,
13:27which will be amplified day by day,
13:30we should try not to have it.
13:32Sir, if you had to test this software firewall,
13:37why did you not trust it?
13:39Why did you not say that this is the phase,
13:41this is how it will be for so many days?
13:43They have such genuine concerns.
13:45How will they recover?
13:47Will it be written in your legacy that the IT industry will be ruined?
13:52Look, the reputational loss is a very genuine thing.
13:56The reason is that if you want to take a business from someone,
14:00now you have a meeting with him,
14:02in which you have to finalize the details,
14:04and you miss that meeting.
14:05Or he has sent you messages on WhatsApp,
14:07that send me these things.
14:09And you did not get it, you got it,
14:11so you cannot open it.
14:12I mean, there is a problem for you.
14:14Does the PM know?
14:15Does he not know?
14:16Is someone misguiding him?
14:17I have raised this issue a lot in relevant quarters,
14:20and we are pushing it a lot.
14:23More improvement can be brought in this,
14:26and I will raise it in our next meeting,
14:29that if we give a schedule,
14:31that if there is such a thing in the future,
14:33then we give a schedule,
14:34like there is a schedule for load shedding,
14:36so at least they can plan,
14:38that this issue will be on time,
14:40so we can basically,
14:42not do it on that day,
14:43or not do it on that hour,
14:44but do it like that.
14:45How will they do monitoring in this?
14:46For example,
14:47you have to regulate all the data,
14:48you do load shedding in it,
14:50that we will regulate the data for two hours a day,
14:52not two hours.
14:53I am saying that if such a requirement comes in the future,
14:56there is no requirement now,
14:57but if a system goes down,
14:59if there is an issue of submarine cable,
15:02there can be many other issues,
15:03so we should make a procedure for it,
15:06I will propose it in the next meeting,
15:08that we should make a procedure,
15:09so that the people who are working,
15:11can do their work,
15:12and the other people can also get affected.
15:14Sir, because it has a political angle,
15:16it is obvious,
15:17that you have a problem with social media,
15:18with the political narrative,
15:19so in order to curtail the political narrative,
15:22are you doing any irreparable damage to the IT industry?
15:27See,
15:28Inshallah,
15:29I hope,
15:30because we have been assured,
15:31that in the next three days,
15:32the issue will be resolved.
15:34Today, it was much better,
15:35if you check.
15:36How will this happen?
15:37Sir,
15:38please tell us,
15:39that the people who are listening,
15:40may have an impact on their business,
15:41how will it be solved?
15:42How is it being sorted out?
15:43See,
15:44it is obvious,
15:45in its implementation,
15:46they have to put some filters,
15:48actually,
15:49it does a firewall,
15:50deep packet inspection,
15:51in deep packet inspection,
15:52the payload,
15:53that was moving,
15:54is inspected,
15:55to see,
15:56what is actually inside it,
15:57and it is obvious,
15:58that you have to put a big setup,
15:59and get it inspected,
16:00and that is why,
16:01the issue is slowing down,
16:02and you have to put filters,
16:03along with these things,
16:04so that you can specify,
16:05what kind of data you are getting.
16:06Are there any other firewalls,
16:07because Shaza Khawaja Sahiba said,
16:08that there are firewalls all over the world,
16:09apart from China and Russia,
16:10are there any other,
16:11in the free world,
16:12like America?
16:13Yes,
16:14wherever there is a problem,
16:15there is a problem,
16:16and there is a problem,
16:17and there is a problem,
16:18and there is a problem,
16:19and there is a problem,
16:20in America?
16:21Yes,
16:22wherever the major,
16:23whatever the western economy,
16:24in America,
16:25is a problem?
16:26Because we have talked there,
16:28they say no,
16:29the problem here,
16:30is not right.
16:31No, no we will tell you the file,
16:32in the UK,
16:33I have taught there,
16:34and started there only,
16:35I started the business there also,
16:36so there is a problem but,
16:38if they have a French Chemical�
16:39of GCHQ there,
16:40and it causes a problem,
16:45similarly,
16:46if its implementation gets improved,
16:47then perhaps,
16:48So, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of IT. Somebody has to take responsibility.
16:52We are doing it. We will raise it in the next meeting.
16:56You are saying a vague thing. Earlier, you were not accepting that there is a firewall.
17:00Now, you have accepted that there is a firewall.
17:02You are very clear. That is why we have called you.
17:04Because you are giving us a very clear view.
17:07But you are not accepting it. You have accepted it and told us.
17:10On this basis, I am asking a question.
17:12So far, there has been a loss in the reputation cost.
17:14Is it recoverable from here? Will it take time?
17:17Whenever there is a loss in the reputation, it takes time.
17:21It will not happen that tomorrow you will go and say that I have fixed it.
17:25Your old customers may have a relationship with you.
17:31But if you look at the freelancers' business, they are doing small jobs.
17:38They have an engagement of two hours or two days.
17:44They come to a marketplace. You bid and they take it.
17:47When that work happens, if there is a loss in the reputation, it is not that easy to come back.
17:54The second thing is that we are providing managed services on the backend.
18:02Or there are contact centers. I don't know to what extent they have been impacted.
18:07If the customer experience of their end user customers is affected,
18:12then you have to give them that confidence.
18:16If you go to a restaurant and you get a wrong meal, you don't go to that restaurant again.
18:20Do you think this is a one-time issue?
18:25Because you have added all your projections, all your businesses,
18:28now you will add that risk factor. What do you think?
18:32Look, there are no interruptions.
18:36There is a technology background.
18:38You can never say that there will never be an interruption.
18:42If I take a recent example, and I am not justifying any action,
18:47but you know that the impact of Microsoft has come to the whole world.
18:52All we request, and we have talked about this with Pasha's firm,
18:58if something like this is happening in the future,
19:01then better planning and maybe you can sandbox it and test it.
19:06And get the stakeholders in confidence in a proper way.
19:12Has no one engaged you before this firewall?
19:14Did you know about this?
19:16At least as an industry, generally we did not know.
19:20If you look at the last 8-10 days, generally people have been airing that this problem is coming.
19:28So we did not have any such information.
19:31So before that, no one engaged you or asked you?
19:34At least in this case, we are not engaged.
19:36We, as an industry representative, are engaged with the government in many things.
19:41I talked to you that we work with the government on the tech destination.
19:47We do such things.
19:48In this, at least we were not involved.
19:50Mr. Apnan, to be very honest, my question is very simple.
19:53Do you think the government has any idea about the level of testing failure?
20:00After which all these people are shouting.
20:02Or are they looking at it from a political angle?
20:04That it happens politically.
20:06Like political collateral damage, it happens.
20:09In this, the government is looking at this matter very seriously.
20:13And we are trying a lot to resolve this matter as soon as possible.
20:16You should have called and asked.
20:17I have agreed to this.
20:19I have agreed to this.
20:21I myself am saying that we will propose in the next meeting that there should be a schedule.
20:25There should be a process.
20:26See, if this work had been done through a schedule, then maybe so many shouts would not have come out.
20:30Everyone would have managed on their own that I should do it at this time or at that time, whatever it is.
20:34So we will keep all our recommendations ahead.
20:37And there is a lot of awareness on the level of the government.
20:40Because there is a lot of reaction from everywhere.
20:43So we want to take it forward in a better way.
20:47Of course, we don't want to do this.
20:49We did 3G and 4G in Mian Nawaz Sharif's country.
20:53You know that there was an edge in this country.
20:55There was no 3G and 4G.
20:56So after that, this whole market opened.
20:59After that, this business started.
21:00Otherwise, there was no business scene.
21:01But in this legacy, God forbid, this is your legacy.
21:04Inshallah, we will do better in this legacy.
21:05In which freelancers are leaving small companies and tech companies.
21:07Inshallah.
21:08We will hold you accountable to your word.
21:12We will keep talking about this issue again and again.
21:14Because these young people, especially those who work in the tech industry.
21:18These are the people who create their own opportunities.
21:21In Pakistan, we know the situation of the economy.
21:24We know the situation of the job sector.
21:26How many new jobs are coming.
21:27We all know that it is a curse.
21:29These are the people who are creating opportunities for themselves
21:32by using the internet at home on their own.
21:35So the government cannot create opportunities.
21:37So at least don't take away the children who are working hard.
21:40When we come back, we will introduce you to those young people.
21:43There is a woman and a man in it.
21:45Who are related to different sectors related to IT.
21:48How is their life being affected?
21:50What is the difference between their training skills and teaching IT to other students?
21:55We will come back after the break.
21:58Before the program, we talked about the technical aspects.
22:00We tried to explain the facts, figures and the big conceptual aspects of this situation.
22:08We hope that we were able to explain it to you.
22:10In the next part of the program, we will go into more depth.
22:13We will talk to those people who are directly affected by the internet speed throttling down.
22:19If this is happening because of the firewall,
22:21then their businesses, their work, the training they provide to the students,
22:28is directly affecting them.
22:30These are not just figures, these are not just stats.
22:33These are real people whose real lives are being impacted.
22:38A lot of people are being affected by this.
22:41We will talk about this in this program.
22:44We have with us Varda Noor, Bani from X-Wave.
22:47She is a youth training company.
22:52They provide IT training to students.
22:55Irfan Malik is a data scientist, CEO of 7 Solutions.
23:01We will ask her how this is affecting the sectors and the type of impact it is having.
23:08Varda, I will start with you because I have followed your journey.
23:11You focus a lot on training in the marginalized areas of the society,
23:16especially in remote areas.
23:21What is the difference between the internet speed throttling down
23:27and the speed throttling down in your life, in your work,
23:31and in the lives of the students who are learning these skills because of this platform?
23:37Thank you, Maria.
23:41We know that quality education is not available in the marginalized areas.
23:46Because of the internet, it has become possible to connect our expert trainers
23:51who are either out of the country or in the main cities of Pakistan.
23:56Because of the internet, we are facing a problem in the rural areas
24:00where we wanted to make quality education, especially IT education, accessible.
24:05There are physical labs where students can be connected to the internet remotely.
24:10Because of the internet slowdown, classes are not being held.
24:14If classes are being held, students are complaining that there is a problem with their voice.
24:18We have been facing similar problems for the past one and a half weeks.
24:22The students who were hoping for a better future,
24:26that they will make their name in IT and come into the world of freelancing,
24:30are now in despair because of the internet slowdown.
24:35How will they work in the future?
24:37How many students do you train?
24:40How many people are directly affected by the internet in this phase?
24:47In our physical labs, there are about 250 students who come and study.
24:53In addition, we recently started a course in which there are about 1500 students
24:58who were online connected with their mobile laptops from different cities of Pakistan.
25:02They had to start their classes on 14th August.
25:05There are about 1750 students who are impacted.
25:09What are the problems? Is there an issue in connectivity?
25:12Are you not able to share the resources to learn?
25:17What are the precise issues?
25:19The government is saying that there is no problem.
25:21I think my national policy is to gaslight people and tell them that this is all in their minds.
25:26This is not the reality on the ground.
25:28I want to know what specific problems students are facing.
25:31You have a sample of 1500 students.
25:34There are about 2000 students.
25:36There are many such operations in Pakistan.
25:38When you tell us, we will have their representation.
26:08Class discussions are happening through WhatsApp, videos, voice notes, and pictures.
26:14When you don't allow them to use WhatsApp for communication,
26:19and you control them,
26:21the students will not be able to access the information so quickly.
26:25Similarly, we had an ad campaign on Facebook
26:28through which we were giving the message to the students that
26:31this is a free training and you can be a part of it.
26:33In the last few days, when the video was not available,
26:36and there were problems on Facebook,
26:38the students were not able to watch our ad campaign.
26:40The campaign that was supposed to run for three more days,
26:44did not work because of the internet.
26:46The students were also deprived of the video issues.
26:50In addition, most users in Pakistan,
26:54especially from marginalized areas,
26:56do not have Wi-Fi available in their homes.
26:58They connect with their mobile data.
27:01The Wi-Fi users may have a better internet connection,
27:05but the people connected to the mobile data
27:07cannot connect to Facebook or WhatsApp without a VPN.
27:11Even if they connect to the VPN,
27:14the mobile data is not working properly.
27:17It takes a lot of time to load the data.
27:20Because of this, the flow of information,
27:22if the students want to learn something,
27:24if they want to talk to their instructor,
27:26or talk to anyone,
27:27even if they want to talk to their clients,
27:29with whom they are connected through these platforms,
27:31they cannot do it.
27:33I have heard a lot of statements from the government.
27:36They feel that the fiber network is working properly.
27:39You are connected to Wi-Fi, there is no problem.
27:42But they do not understand that
27:44your client is also on Facebook,
27:46your client is also on Twitter,
27:47your client is also connected to you on WhatsApp.
27:50It is not that Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter,
27:52all these platforms are used for entertainment.
27:56All these platforms are used in Pakistan for professional purposes.
27:59WhatsApp and Facebook are easy to use for the Pakistani audience,
28:04especially for marginalized areas.
28:06Because they may not know how to use fiber so well.
28:09They may not be so easy on Upwork.
28:12But they can communicate well on WhatsApp
28:14with local clients,
28:15with some international clients.
28:17When you close these communication channels,
28:20they will face all these problems.
28:22And for the past 3-4 days,
28:24whether it was a loss in learning,
28:27or a loss in clients,
28:29who were able to earn in 3-4 days,
28:31those things have stopped.
28:32So who is responsible for that?
28:34At this time, if their house bills will not be paid,
28:36if their house expenses will not be paid,
28:38then I do not understand who is responsible for that.
28:42The government understands that there is no such big problem.
28:44Mr. Irfan Malik, I will come to you.
28:46You tell me.
28:47Because when we contact the government again and again,
28:49they say that there are national security issues,
28:51that we have to regulate the content.
28:53These are not such bad conditions.
28:56As you are saying,
28:58the representatives of PTA came
29:00and said on the Parliamentary Committee
29:02that no one complained to us
29:04that the internet is not working properly.
29:06So why are you complaining?
29:07What is the problem with your internet?
29:09What are your activities that are directly affected by this?
29:11And first of all, tell me,
29:12how many people do you employ on your platform?
29:16And how many people are directly affected by this ban?
29:20Thank you very much, first of all.
29:23What needs to be understood is what is happening.
29:26When they say that the internet is working properly
29:29and there is no loss,
29:31this is not a loss of a few days.
29:33First of all, let us understand that
29:35a very big revenue in our country
29:37is coming from IT and freelancing.
29:39What is freelancing?
29:41When you talk about freelancing,
29:43you are giving your services to the international client
29:47and the most important bond between you and the international client
29:51is that of trust.
29:53That the client feels comfortable
29:55to hire people from our country
29:57that they will be available all the time
29:59and will give me quality services.
30:01Quality services were already a challenge for us.
30:03Now availability has also become a challenge.
30:05And to build trust with a client,
30:07first the child has to do a lot of courses or degrees,
30:10has to do training.
30:12Then after a lot of effort,
30:14a client comes to Fiverr.
30:16That client has to put in a lot of effort,
30:18hard work, day and night
30:20for the delivery.
30:21After that, the trust is built.
30:23I say that in the life of a programmer,
30:25there are peaks of 4 years.
30:27If he spent 4 years to make a client
30:29and that client left because of XYZ reason,
30:31because it is not about WhatsApp,
30:33but it is about the ecosystem,
30:35then his 4-5 days are not wasted,
30:37his many years are wasted.
30:39If 10 children are unemployed,
30:41then it is not necessary that they will stand on their feet.
30:43Those who have the willpower will stand.
30:45But there are many people who may never be able to stand.
30:47So the thing is,
30:49what is going on is creating an overall problem.
30:51And in that problem,
30:53this statement has added up.
30:55Whoever gave this statement,
30:57I have seen it on some channels that nothing happened.
30:59My people have sent me screenshots
31:01that we told the client that your work was delayed
31:03because there is an internet issue in our country.
31:05And that client took a screenshot
31:07from that channel or news
31:09and sent it to us.
31:11Now we have lost our credibility.
31:13The international media is reporting something else.
31:15So there is a small solution to this.
31:17There is no harm in doing it.
31:19The government can give a press release,
31:21a certificate,
31:23can do something.
31:25What are we doing? When will it start?
31:27When will it be fine?
31:29So that every freelancer has a benchmark
31:31to show the client what he is doing.
31:33But now no one knows what is happening.
31:35I run a company of 150 people
31:37and we communicate on WhatsApp.
31:39And many clients communicate on WhatsApp.
31:41Then there are further teams of those clients.
31:43Can we remove the entire infrastructure
31:45from WhatsApp overnight
31:47and take it to another channel
31:49who are only talking about WhatsApp?
31:51It is not only about WhatsApp.
31:53When you access Fiverr
31:55and every person is accessing it
31:57with a VPN,
31:59then when a VPN is used,
32:01you get plagued in the same way.
32:03If you change your IP
32:05consistently again and again,
32:07then this loss has been damaged
32:09for a few years.
32:11Overall, if you calculate,
32:13there has been a loss of 300 million.
32:15And 300 million is just
32:17the tip of the iceberg.
32:19The firewall will get better,
32:21but its effects will continue to come.
32:23It's not the end, it's the beginning.
32:25What effects will come?
32:27As a regular user,
32:29we are not able to get a job.
32:31The lags and delays we are seeing
32:33are frustrating for us.
32:35But what is the futuristic effect?
32:37What should we expect?
32:39Let me clear it for you.
32:41The technology we have implemented
32:43from China,
32:45China has not made it overnight
32:47in a few days or weeks,
32:49but in decades.
32:51We have brought a technology.
32:53If there is any error in that technology,
32:55the mismanagement of its implementation
32:57has a direct impact on the internet.
32:59When the internet created an issue,
33:01the trust between the client and the user
33:03was disrupted.
33:05Will the client come back
33:07after suffering a loss?
33:09The client will never come back.
33:11Will the child be able to retain
33:13the new client?
33:15Not every child will be able to.
33:17Let me ask you a question.
33:19As a technical person,
33:21I am sharing my apprehension.
33:23Who can say that
33:25the mismanagement of the firewall
33:27will not happen again?
33:29Whenever it happens,
33:31the trust will be broken.
33:33As a community,
33:35in freelancing,
33:37we are injecting untrained
33:39new people every month.
33:41Our credibility is already at stake.
33:43The credibility that was at stake,
33:45the competent people
33:47who had retained the client
33:49have also been flagged.
33:51They have also lost their trust.
33:53This is a recurrent issue.
33:55I don't think it is a one-time issue.
33:57It is a recurrent issue.
33:59It will have an impact for many years.
34:01Thank you Irfan Malik
34:03and Varda Noor for
34:05giving us a detailed
34:07experience of the firewall.
34:09In the near future,
34:11how will the IT industry
34:13in Pakistan improve?
34:15I hope that
34:17sanity prevails.
34:19Let's stop this situation
34:21as soon as possible.
34:23I don't know how long
34:25it will take to recover
34:27but let's not damage it further.
34:29There is an energy crisis in the country
34:31but our legislators
34:33have only one problem
34:35and that is how women
34:37wear their clothes.
34:41What is the biggest problem
34:43in the country right now?
34:45Electricity bills.
34:47What is the biggest debate
34:49in the country right now?
34:51How to manage the power sector?
34:53Today, the Kaima Committee
34:55held a meeting on the power sector
34:57and the women
34:59were objected to
35:01wearing their clothes.
35:05The MNA, Iqbal Afridi
35:07objected to women's clothes
35:09in the meeting.
35:11According to Iqbal Afridi,
35:13the clothes of the K-Electric woman
35:15were objectionable.
35:17According to her,
35:19such clothes should not be used in the meeting.
35:21The women should wear
35:23SOPs.
35:25What will children say
35:27when such people come
35:29to a civilized society?
35:31This is a warning
35:33to the system and society.
35:35I don't talk about anyone
35:37but the clothes were not right.
35:39What did the women wear?
35:41Let me show you the clothes
35:43they wore in the meeting.
35:45They ignored everything
35:47and focused
35:49on their clothes.
35:51Women's clothes,
35:53women's freedom
35:55and freedom of expression
35:57should not
35:59be a threat
36:01to the country
36:03and the society.
36:05If the clothes
36:07of the K-Electric woman
36:09had been better,
36:11the problem of electricity
36:13would not have been solved.
36:15This is an important meeting
36:17about the power crisis.
36:19The clothes of the K-Electric woman
36:21should not be
36:23a threat
36:25to the country.
36:27This is an important meeting
36:29about the power crisis.
36:31This is an important meeting
36:33about the power crisis.