Daniel Castro, the vice president of a well-known American technology think tank, says that an Internet ban may cost Pakistan economically.
Speaking to reporters at the US Embassy in Pakistan yesterday, he said that these sanctions may provide short-term political strength but may lead to long-term economic instability.
While recognizing the sovereignty of the country, he raised the question what is the purpose of the countries that are making this decision, and are they prioritizing short-term interests over long-term interests?
Daniel Castro says that most of the arguments in favor of shutting down the Internet are that it is good for short-term political stability, but I believe that the economic stability that would come from not shutting down the Internet is short-term. The benefits are more than that.
There have to be some limits, he said, just like you can’t block all the avenues through which some kind of harmful content is coming.
It should be noted that these remarks of Daniel Castro have come against the backdrop of internet censorship in Pakistan.
According to him, commerce and digital services are the key sectors in Pakistan, but internet outages, whether for minutes, hours, or days, are affecting certain services.
Freelancers and online workers in Pakistan are facing difficulties due to the internet ban.