By Sudhir Ahmad Afridi
KHYBER: In an era when digital connectivity defines progress, opportunity, and freedom, Pakistan’s remote tribal areas like Bazaar Zakha Khel and Shelman remain isolated in a digital dark age. Here, internet access is either nonexistent or so poor as to be unusable. Ironically, this digital deprivation is not confined to distant regions.
Even urban centers now suffer from deteriorating internet quality, with mobile operators throttling speeds and weakening signals despite charging full fees for their services. This systematic degradation amounts to a denial of a basic human right. The government’s failure to intervene, combined with judicial apathy and political silence, perpetuates a growing inequality in digital access, locking millions out of the global conversation and opportunity.
The United Nations Human Rights Council’s 2016 resolution declared internet access a fundamental human right, integral to freedom of expression, education, economic participation, and social inclusion. It condemned any attempt to block or restrict access as a human rights violation. Firstly, it is a powerful tool for freedom of expression. It enables citizens to share information, voice dissent, and participate meaningfully in democratic processes. Without it, many are silenced, their voices unheard.
