While Pakistan is facing an increasingly deepening democratic crisis, an equivalent struggle takes place in cyberspace — one that risks political speech and freedom online.

The country’s democracy score dropped six places in 2024, ranking among the “top 10 worst performers” on the Democracy Index. Meanwhile, Pakistan lingers in the lowest 12% in the world for both mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds. This twin decline — political and online — has set off fervent worries regarding censorship, surveillance, and the diminishing of bedrock rights.

The Democracy Index ranked 165 sovereign states and two territories in five key areas: electoral process and pluralism, performance of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. Pakistan, with a score of 2.84, ranked 124th in the world, solidly placed as an “authoritarian regime.” This designation is not just a result of election interference and political instability but also the general attack on civil liberties — including the repression of online platforms.

At the same time, the country’s online environment mirrors these limitations. The internet, frequently a final sanctuary for opposition and discussion, is also struggling. With mobile download rates 100th among 111 nations and broadband speeds 141st among 158, users encounter slow connection and intermittent blackouts. News of blocked virtual private network (VPN) access has only exacerbated these grievances, with VPNs — a valuable means of circumventing blocks on sites such as X (formerly Twitter) — being a target of state monitoring.

The Ministry of Interior has advocated for an unregistered VPN ban on grounds of their use for “illicit purposes” — ranging from accessing prohibited content to enabling criminal activity. A directive to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) imposed a hard deadline for registering VPN connections, threatening to cut unregistered ones. Although the PTA blames recent shutdowns on “technical anomalies,” human rights organizations like Amnesty International have expressed concern regarding the lack of transparency and growing adoption of surveillance technology.

This alignment of democratic regression and digital oppression is no accident. When authoritarian governments constrict their stranglehold on society, constricting cyberspace typically is a strategic tactic aimed at capturing the narratives and silencing dissents. According to the Democracy Index, more than one-third of humanity currently resides in states with an authoritarian system — a number continually increasing over recent decades. In South Asia, elections in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka were tainted by charges of fraud, violence, and state intervention, highlighting the region’s weak democratic underpinnings.

The role of the internet in this mix cannot be exaggerated. When political voices are muffled in public spaces, the virtual space tends to become the battleground for resistance — a situation that authoritarian governments are quick to reverse.

Pakistan’s democratic position had a dramatic fall in 2024, declining by six ranks and becoming stuck in the “top 10 most egregious underperformers” of the Democracy Index, carefully selected by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). EIU’s regional snapshot shed light that the composite index score for Asia and Australasia fell from 5.41 to 5.31 — a disappointing sixth consecutive fall in 2024. Bangladesh’s regression was most pronounced, though South Korea and Pakistan also logged notable declines. Bangladesh, South Korea, and Pakistan were the worst offenders, plummeting in world rankings by 25, 10, and six places respectively.

The study highlighted that more than half of the global population across 70+ nations participated in elections last year, including Pakistan. Yet, the specter of electoral malfeasance loomed large, with rigging deemed endemic in authoritarian states. In numerous countries — spanning Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Iran, Mozambique, Pakistan, Russia, and Venezuela — authoritarian regimes marshaled every instrument at their disposal to perpetuate their dominion.

The study also defined the strong obstacles towards democratic purity in South Asia, identifying electoral interference, turbulent politics, and politically turbulent regimes in countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. “South Asia’s 2024 elections were tarnished by malice and violence. During Pakistan’s February general election, instances of political suppression and brazen interventions by the apparatus of state appeared.”

“The democratic vision for South Asia remains abuzz with uncertainty,” concluded the report, stressing that “progressive democratization is heavily dependent on the ability of civil societies to apply constant pressure for change and the will of political institutions to promote inclusiveness and diversity.”

Joan Hoey, the Director of the Democracy Index, said, “While autocracies seem to be building their strength — a trend that has been in evidence since 2006 — the world’s democracies are struggling with inertia.” She continued, “The root drivers of this long democratic recession are complex. If challenger forces come to power but stumble in improving governance and delivering real benefits to their people, the danger of mounting disaffection and political polarization hangs over them.”

Pakistan’s concurrent battles against democratic regression and digital repression unfold a disturbing trajectory. While cyber security and rule of law are valid concerns, the secrecy entailed in the imposition of internet restrictions and targeting of VPNs risk eroding basic freedoms. The way ahead calls for better than technical sophistications or politicking — for a sincere assurance of transparency, inclusivity, and safeguarding of both democratic and digital liberties. At this juncture in Pakistan, there is one urgent question hanging over the nation: will the country’s destiny be determined by free conversation and creativity, or will it be defined by censorship and domination?