DIGITAL PAKISTAN MONITOR – December 2025
A monthly report on trends relating to digital rights, policies, practices & media
Tracking: Internet and digital policies and regulations
Digitalization in governance and socio-economic domains
Digital rights violations and protections
Digital rights advocacy and defense
Digital media and online free speech
Vol. 6, No. 12 – December 2025 Edition
Produced by Freedom Network – www.fnpk.org
SECTION 1: Internet and digital policies and regulations
- Federal and provincial governments (ministries and departments)
- Internet regulators
- Media regulators
- Telecom regulators
- Internet access / connectivity
Rs13 billion telecommunication projects approved to connect 5.5 million rural residents
Date: December 4, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Express Tribune, Source 3: Pakistan Today
The Universal Service Fund (USF) approved nine new telecommunication projects worth Rs13.05 billion to provide high-speed internet and voice services to 5.55 million unserved and underserved residents across the country.
PTA clears PTCL-Telenor merger with strict conditions
Date: December 5, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Express Tribune, Source 3: Pakistan Today
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) approved the merger of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and Telenor and its associated companies, subject to conditions designed to prevent monopolistic practices.
Pakistan to fiberize ten million homes
Date: December 7, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
Pakistan’s technological success hinges on closing connectivity gaps, slashing infrastructure costs, and accelerating fiber-to-home rollout under the ambitious National Fiberization Plan targeting ten million high-speed broadband households by 2029.
Internet disruptions persist in Balochistan
Date: December 13, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
Mobile internet in Quetta was partially disrupted, with speeds throttled to near un-usability rather than fully suspended. Seeking to avert public backlash from outright bans, the Balochistan government adopted this reduced-speed approach.
Government sets two-month timeline for spectrum auction
Date: December 24, 2025 – Source: Dawn
The federal government approved the process for the auction of 600-megahertz (MHz) spectrum within two months, followed by the rollout of 5G internet in six months, on the recommendation of a US-based consultancy firm.
Date: December 26, 2025 – Source: Dawn
The government’s approval of a record 600MHz spectrum auction reflects recognition that chronic under-allocation has hampered mobile and internet services. The government aims to distribute the spectrum within two months, with operators expected to roll out services in six months.
SECTION 2: Digital rights advocacy and defense
- Pakistan-based citizens and civil society organizations
- Independent international digital rights organizations
- UN and global multilateral organizations
- Governmental and other sources
Connected but excluded: Pakistan’s digital inclusion puzzle
Date: December 12, 2025 – Source 1: PIDE, Source 2: Business Recorder (BR)
Despite widespread smartphone ownership, only 0.13 percent of Pakistan’s population invested in the stock market. This underscored a digital inclusion paradox: citizens were connected yet largely excluded from financial participation, as access to technology alone had not translated into financial inclusion.
Tax begone – a less costly broadband?
Date: December 15, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Eliminating or sharply reducing broadband sales tax nationwide would position digital inclusion as a core economic policy, spur telecommunication expansion, reduce gender disparities, empower entrepreneurs, and align Pakistan with global digital growth standards.
SECTION 3: Digital rights violations and protections
- Citizens and netizens – including case studies
- Media, journalists and other information practitioners
- Online free speech
- Online access to information
- Privacy violations
- Data protection
- Surveillance
- Misinformation / disinformation / fake news
- Cybercrime
Date: December 1, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Pakistan’s Cybersecurity Act has been presented as a milestone. The proposed legislation marks a long-awaited attempt to strengthen national defenses in an age where the first strike is often digital. Yet ambition alone will not suffice when dealing with cyber weaknesses that have left the country exposed.
Online fraud: PTA issues advisory for citizens
Date: December 1, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
In an advisory, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) warned citizens about online scams involving imposters posing as the Authority, a bank, or courier representatives to steal personal data. The authority urged people to not share any personal information or click suspicious links.
NCCIA expanding its operations across country, parliament told
Date: December 2, 2025 – Source: The News
The Interior Minister presented details to the National Assembly (NA) on the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency’s (NCCIA) operational performance over the preceding five years, outlining trends in reporting, investigations, case registrations, arrests, convictions, and acquittals.
Date: December 3, 2025 – Source: The News
Pakistani officials largely focused on policing content and fake news, while giving far less attention to cyberattacks and data breaches – equally serious and often more widespread threats.
Pakistan accused of using ‘highly invasive’ Israeli spyware
Date: December 5, 2025 – Source: Business Recorder (BR)
An Amnesty International (AI) investigation, Intellexa Leaks, accused Pakistan of actively using an Israeli manufactured spyware product. The product, Predator, has been linked with human rights and privacy abuses in multiple countries.
Pakistan denies claims of use of Israeli spyware
Date: December 5, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Pakistan Today, Source 3: Arab News
Pakistan refuted claims published in an Amnesty International (AI) report that a spyware and intelligence-gathering product, manufactured by an Israeli company, was actively being used in the country, calling the report “an attempt to malign Pakistan”.
Capital residents torn between safety and privacy concerns
Date: December 5, 2025 – Source: Dawn
After a terror attack in Islamabad, the government launched a household survey to gather resident data, a move supported by some but condemned by civil society organizations as a breach of privacy and expansion of surveillance.
Sindh government plans cybercrime unit similar to NCCIA
Date: December 7, 2025 – Source: Dawn
According to media reports, the Sindh government planned to establish a cybercrime unit to combat online offensives, aiming to strengthen the province’s cybersecurity and provide a safer digital environment for users.
Date: December 7, 2025 – Source: The News
As Pakistan bolstered its natural security against evolving threats, the unchecked use of illegal and unregistered VPNs demanded attention. These VPNs had emerged as a serious security challenge, fueling hybrid warfare, political destabilization, and social vulnerability.
Can a new authority resolve cybersecurity paradox?
Date: December 8, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
As the federal information technology ministry prepared to table the Cybersecurity Act 2025 and create an independent National Cybersecurity Authority, critical concerns over funding, institutional clarity, and tensions with telecommunication operators remained unresolved.
Parliamentary committee flags digital privacy lapses
Date: December 12, 2025 – Source: Digital Pakistan (DP)
A parliamentary standing committee criticized Islamabad’s household survey application for lacking basic data privacy protections. Lawmakers warned that without an effective data protection law, such initiatives leave citizens vulnerable to security breaches and misuse.
Jemima Goldsmith appeals to X regarding algorithm limitation on posts about PTI founder
Date: December 13, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Jemima Goldsmith, former wife of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, took to X to directly address platform CEO Elon Musk, informing him that its algorithm was limiting posts about the PTI founder, including those from her account.
Date: December 15, 2025 – Source: The News
Rooted in offline abuse and intensified during Covid-19, Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TF-GBV) became a global challenge, with thousands of cases reported annually. Pakistan, like many countries, was not immune to this digital extension of violence.
Three NCCIA officers facing investigation resign
Date: December 18, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Express Tribune
Three officials of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), under inquiry by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for allegedly extorting money from a prominent content creator and several call centers, tendered their resignations.
Date: December 21, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
Pakistan witnessed swift expansion in internet penetration and digital engagement. This growth fostered news avenues for communication and civic participation, but simultaneously intensified online threats, harassment, and technology-enabled offences.
Committee formed to access security of government information systems
Date: December 22, 2025 – Source: The News
The federal government established the National Committee on Information and Communication Security, mandating it to implement a comprehensive cybersecurity framework across all ministries, divisions, and organizations.
Pakistan blocks over 1.5 million URLs in 2025
Date: December 24, 2025 – Source: Business Recorder (BR)
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) revealed that during 2025, more than 1.5 million URLs had been blocked, including 6,042 related to defamation and impersonation and 13,780 pertaining to immoral content across various online platforms.
SIM owners responsible for illegal use, warns authorities
Date: December 26, 2025 – Source: Dawn
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) issued a warning to mobile SIM owners to be responsible users and that all such cellular connections must be registered in the user’s name.
Date: December 29, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Pakistan has repeatedly witnessed laws framed for order and security morph into instruments of control. The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, enacted in 2016 to curb cybercrime, has instead been wielded to silence journalists, activists, and citizens for their online expression.
NCCIA secures major gains in war on cybercrime
Date: December 30, 2025 – Source: The News
In 2025, the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) pursued 2,196 major cybercrime cases, achieving a 36 percent resolution rate. These efforts culminated in 2,902 arrests, 774 successful prosecutions, and the dismantling of five organized cybercrime syndicates.
SECTION 4: Digitalization
- Digitalization in governance sectors / e-governance
- Digitalization in social and development sectors
- Digitalization in business and commercial sectors
Conflicting road bodies, e-challan frenzy throw Karachi traffic in turmoil
Date: December 1, 2025 – Source: Dawn
While the Sindh government appears to be overzealous about strict implementation of electronic challans (e-challans), the responsibility of traffic engineering remains scattered among multiple entities, hindering the development of a seamless and efficient transportation network in Karachi.
Date: December 1, 2025 – Source: The News
Karachi has shown that where there is will, discipline follows. Other provinces should learn from the city’s e-challan model. Pakistan’s future depends not just on economic and politics, but on a behavioral shift driven by efficient governance, technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and fairness.
Who will lead the digital economy?
Date: December 1, 2025 – Source: The News
For small and medium enterprises (SMEs), digital transformation began with efficiency goals like better financial control and less paperwork, but the real turning point came when businesses moved from digitizing processes to transforming intelligence.
Pakistan bets on artificial intelligence to tackle smog
Date: December 1, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
Every winter, Lahore sinks into a toxic smog fueled by crop burning, vehicle emissions, and industrial pollution. The Punjab government has turned to artificial intelligence (AI), implementing a new clean-air program that includes at least 100 AI-powered monitoring stations across the province.
Pakistan’s AI potential being unlocked with local data center
Date: December 2, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Daily Times
Telenor’s launch of Pakistan’s first locally hosted artificial intelligence (AI) data center and sovereign AI cloud, developed with Data Vault, is set to accelerate AI adoption across healthcare, finance, and public safety while enhancing cybersecurity and data transparency.
Forbes says Pakistan emerges as ‘rising star’ in fintech
Date: December 2, 2025 – Source: The News
In a report titled Fintech Heats Up in South Asia Beyond India, international media outlet Forbes reported that Pakistan’s once-struggling fintech was now rebounding, with venture funding soaring from $10.4 million in 2019 to $150 million in 2022 – positioning the country as a rising hub for digital finance.
Trademarks, AI and the future of Pakistan’s innovation economy
Date: December 2, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) – through machine learning, data analytics, and automation – has redefined competitive advantage and innovation. In Pakistan, where intellectual property (IP) laws remain underdeveloped, the growing overlap between AI and trademarks demands urgent attention.
Crypto council CEO steps down as Prime Minister’s aide on virtual assets
Date: December 3, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Express Tribune, Source 3: Business Recorder (BR)
Bilal Bin Saqib, chief of the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC), stepped down as special assistant to the prime minister on blockchain and cryptocurrency. However, he would continue in his capacity as chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA).
Secure, affordable digital payments a priority, says State Bank governor
Date: December 4, 2025 – Source: The News
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor Jameel Ahmed said that co-badged cards were gaining traction into Pakistan’s digital payments sector, enabling users to make international and e-commerce payments seamlessly, enhancing efficiency and reducing reliance on external networks.
Oil industry rejects digital integration sans compensation
Date: December 4, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Pakistan Today
Pakistan’s oil industry rejected the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s (OGRA) newly imposed 6-12-month deadlines for full digital integration of over 32,000 ground tanks, depots and petrol pumps, warning that the plan cannot go ahead without a mechanism for recovering the Rs55 billion cost.
Police to use drones to detect traffic violations
Date: December 4, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Traffic police in Rawalpindi decided to use drone cameras to enforce traffic rules. According to a spokesperson, drones will first be deployed in crowded areas to spot violations, after which traffic wardens will act. The move aims to improve monitoring and curb rule-breaking in the city.
Chief Justice reaffirms push for tech-driven, citizen-centric justice system
Date: December 4, 2025 – Source 1: Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), Source 2: The News
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Yahya Afridi reaffirmed the judiciary’s resolve to build a transparent, equitable and citizen-centric justice system, stressing that the adoption of modern technology was now indispensable for ensuring accessible and efficient justice nationwide.
Imported mobile phones: Parliamentary body concerned at high taxes
Date: December 4, 2025 – Source 1:Express Tribune, Source 2: Business Recorder (BR)
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance expressed concern over high taxes on imported mobile phones, which, according to the panel, were forcing consumers to rely on grey-market channels to obtain these devices.
Date: December 5, 2025 – Source: The News
Pakistan is pushing crypto adoption through 2025 policies, but expert opposition and illicit-use concerns are slowing progress. With few investment alternatives, citizens are turning to crypto. Global evidence shows bans fail; only regulated frameworks succeed in harnessing benefits while curbing risks.
Regulating Pakistan’s crypto boom
Date: December 5, 2025 – Source: Business Recorder (BR)
The issue is no longer that Pakistan should regulate crypto. It is now about whether the country opts for structured oversight or allows chaotic vulnerability to persist. In a fragile economic moment, structured oversight is not optional. It is essential for stability, credibility, and long-term economic resilience.
Pakistan’s crypto traders may get ‘time-bound amnesty’
Date: December 6, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Daily Times
The federal government said it was considering a “time-bound amnesty” for cryptocurrency traders, as local banks raised risk and compliance concerns amid more than $250 billion in annual crypto trading reportedly conducted by Pakistani users.
Government set to deploy AI application to curb illegal immigration
Date: December 6, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Pakistan Today
The federal government resolved to launch an AI-based mobile application as a pilot project in Islamabad beginning January 2026, intended to curb illegal immigration and prevent the use of fake documentation for international travel.
Pakistan to launch first stablecoin, says PVARA chief
Date: December 6, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Express Tribune
Pakistan is poised to enter the global digital finance arena with the launch of its first stablecoin, a move aimed at integrating virtual assets into the national economy, according to Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) chairman Bilal Bin Saqib.
HEC to introduce automated degree attestation system
Date: December 6, 2025 – Source: Dawn
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) prepared to launch a blockchain-based overhaul of its degree attestation process, with the new automated system expected to become operational within six months.
Punjab’s e-learning project misses promised goals
Date: December 6, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
The Punjab government continued to promote the idea of digitalizing education services. However, with persistent electricity load-shedding, weak internet, and inadequate information technology (IT) infrastructure, students were unable to efficiently benefit from digital learning materials.
Pakistan charts path for regulated digital asset future
Date: December 6, 2025 – Source: Digital Pakistan (DP)
Pakistani authorities met with Binance CEO Richard Teng and banking leaders to finalize its National Digital Asset Framework. The discussions focused on regulation, compliance, and innovation to position the country as a regional hub for responsible crypto adoption.
Date: December 7, 2025 – Source: The News
A digital rupee is not a silver bullet. It is, at best, one instrument among money in monetary monetization toolkit. If designed and deployed with purpose, it can help digitize public finance, support large-value transactions and enable alternatives to the dollar in specific trade corridors.
Government plans AI center to modernize industry
Date: December 7, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Haroon Akhtar Khan announced the establishment of a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) center at the Pakistan Industrial Technical Assistance Center (PITAC) to modernize the country’s industrial landscape.
Full speed ahead despite crypto confusion?
Date: December 8, 2025 – Source: Dawn
The abolition of the SAPM post exposed the myth of a dedicated “crypto ministry” that never materialized, while the Crypto Council’s status remains uncertain amid dormant meetings and an unreachable Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA).
A global shift in robotics and AI is underway, and Pakistan must keep pace
Date: December 8, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
Global automation surged to a record 553,000 new industrial robots in 2023, while AI investment is forecast to top $300 billion by 2026. Yet Pakistan, ranked a dismal 88th in the 2024 Global Innovation Index – far behind China (20), India (40), and Iran (62) – faces a risk of irreversible technological lag.
Parliamentary body orders review of mobile phone taxes
Date: December 10, 2025 – Source: Dawn
A parliamentary committee directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to prepare a report on tax rates for mobile phones, covering policy options, economic impact, international comparisons, and proposed revisions.
Consumers face over 55pc tax on mobile phones
Date: December 10, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
Mobile phone users in Pakistan pay over 55 per cent of the price of a handset in taxes, termed “exorbitant, a reflection of narrow-mindedness of policymakers and requiring urgent reduction in levies to promote digitization”, revealed proceedings of a parliamentary committee meeting.
Taxes on high-end handsets affect only 5pc of users, claims FBR chairman
Date: December 11, 2025 – Source: The News
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman Rashid Langrial said taxes on expensive, imported mobile phones impacted only a “small” (five percent) segment of consumers, noting that premiums on new high-end models stood at around Rs150,000.
Pakistan moves to digitize payments for ten million women under BISP initiative
Date: December 11, 2025 – Source 1: Express Tribune, Source 2: Pakistan Today, Source 3: Arab News
More than ten million of Pakistan’s poorest women, for the first time, became digital bank account holders under the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), ending 16 years of dependence on agents and manual cash distribution.
‘Digitization renders traditional clerical roles redundant’
Date: December 12, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima said that around 60 percent of lower staff positions in the federal government had become redundant due to digitization, with these posts destined to be abolished.
Technology firms partner to set up Pakistan as regional AI hub
Date: December 12, 2025 – Source: The News
US-based data center operator Datacrox partnered with Data Vault, Pakistan’s artificial intelligence (AI) data center, in a move aimed at positioning Pakistan as a regional hub for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Government unveils passport e-verification system
Date: December 12, 2025 – Source 1: Express Tribune, Source 2: Daily Times, Source 3: The Nation
The Passport Department introduced a revamped online verification system, resolving technical glitches that had been troubling thousands of online passport applicants. The updated process will enable users to verify their fingerprints through NADRA’s Pak-ID application.
Pakistan to allow Binance to explore tokenization of up to $2 billion of assets
Date: December 13, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Express Tribune, Source 3: Reuters
Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with crypto exchange Binance to explore the “tokenization” of up to $2 billion in sovereign bonds, treasury bills and commodity reserves to boost liquidity and attract investors.
Date: December 13, 2025 – Source: Dawn
In Pakistan’s boardrooms, artificial intelligence (AI) is still seen as a luxury rather than a necessity. Yet failing to integrate AI is no longer just inefficient – it is a business risk. Without AI, companies struggle to understand their operations or meet customer expectations.
Why Pakistan’s Binance deal matters
Date: December 13, 2025 – Source: The News
Pakistan is starting to digitize its financial assets. Experts say this could reshape investment behavior in a country that ranks third globally in crypto adoption, with an estimated 30-40 million users and more than $300 billion invested, alongside substantial daily trading volumes.
Date: December 14, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Pakistan faces intensifying scrutiny over its regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges and associated financial risks. Effective governance could transform a grey market into a source of legitimate revenue. Mismanagement, however, risks enabling capital flight and triggering FATF oversight.
Government not seeking to control, but regulate crypto, says PVARA czar
Date: December 15, 2025 – Source: Business Recorder (BR)
Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Bilal Bin Saqib said that the government was not seeking to ‘control’ but to regulate cryptocurrencies, explaining that licenses will be issued to only those entities complying with Pakistani law and regulated framework.
Date: December 15, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
Pakistan embraced cryptocurrency financing involving $2 billion in sovereign assets. The move advances tokenization and blockchain-based distribution as part of economic digitization. Regulators, with Binance and HTX, now prepare subsidiaries and exchange license applications.
Fauji Foundation, Binance partner for crypto push
Date: December 16, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Business conglomerate Fauji Foundation signed a letter of intent (LoI) with cryptocurrency exchange Binance to collaborate in blockchain, cryptocurrency, digital payments and Web3.
Government to roll out WeChat-like application for officials
Date: December 17, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Express Tribune
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication was informed that Pakistan planned to roll out a locally developed secure messaging application, Beep, for government employees.
Date: December 17, 2025 – Source: The News
Pakistan’s 2025 economic landscape was marked by a decisive turn toward cryptocurrencies. Once nearly banned in 2018, they became a policy priority, culminating in an agreement with Binance to explore tokenization of $2 billion in assets.
Big tech courts India, not Pakistan
Date: December 18, 2025 – Source: Business Recorder (BR)
Global technology giants have maintained a steady infatuation with India. By contrast, Pakistan receives modest gestures – training initiatives, limited investments, and rhetorical support – while major infrastructure commitments remain conspicuously absent.
Supreme Court launches new case categorization framework in digital push
Date: December 19, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Business Recorder (BR)
The Supreme Court implemented a new case categorization framework, stating that it was designed to facilitate litigants and enhance judicial efficiency as part of its digital reforms agenda.
Digital asset drive gathers pace as State Bank engages PVARA
Date: December 19, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Daily Times
Pakistan’s drive to regulate digital assets advanced as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) chief met with the chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), making progress toward a formal national framework.
Digital economy push: Raast hits Rs80 trillion transaction mark
Date: December 19, 2025 – Source 1: Pakistan Today, Source 2: Business Recorder (BR)
Officials informed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that Pakistan’s indigenous digital payments platform Raast had processed over three billion transactions worth Rs80 trillion since its launch and had expanded to over 48 million users, with 54 financial institutions now integrated into the system.
Digital loan scheme launched for small farmers
Date: December 20, 2025 – Source 1: The News, Source 2: Daily Times, Source 3: Arab News
Pakistan launched ‘Zarkheze’, a government-backed digital platform, to expand farmers’ access to agricultural financing and advisory services, allowing up to Rs1 million in loans through a mobile application as part of efforts to boost productivity and formalize digital farm lending.
Chief Justice reviews digitalization of court payments
Date: December 21, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi met with the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) to review initiatives aimed at accelerating the digitalization of government payments in the Supreme Court.
Fist online Balochi dictionary launched
Date: December 22, 2025 – Source: Dawn
The first comprehensive online dictionary for the Balochi language, Labzganj, was launched under the National Language Processing (NLP) initiative and contained over 40,000 words.
Pakistan, China ink agreements to expand digital cooperation
Date: December 23, 2025 – Source 1: The News, Source 2: Arab News
Pakistan and China signed 24 agreements to develop a digital corridor aimed at enhancing information technology (IT) cooperation between the two states. These included one government-to-government, seven government-to-business, and 16 business-to-business agreements.
Date: December 24, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
If states struggle to regulate AI in simple areas like traffic monitoring, they remain ill-equipped for complex domains such as taxation and public service delivery. Addressing this requires policy action through audits, accountability frameworks, data protection, and AI rights laws.
‘Digital nomad’ drains economy
Date: December 26, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
As Pakistan moves into 2026, the “Exodus of 2025” stands a definitive marker of the era. Over the past 24 months, the country has lost at least 5,000 doctors, 11,000 engineers and 13,000 accountants, along with nurse migration hitting a 2,144 percent increase between 2011 and 2024.
SUPARCO chief declares 2025 a pivotal chapter in Pakistan’s space journey
Date: December 27, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
SUPARCO Director Shafaat Ali announced that 2025 will be remembered as a breakthrough year for Pakistan in space projects, with the nation’s sights set on the Moon in 2026, backed by collaborative support of both Pakistani and Chinese governments.
Digital payments in Pakistan lag regional peers
Date: December 27, 2025 – Source 1: Express Tribune, Source 2: Pakistan Today
Pakistan remains one of the most cash-dependent economies in the South Asian region. Cash in circulation stood at 34 percent as of June 2025, more than double the levels seen in countries such and Bangladesh and India, underscoring the scale of the undocumented economy.
Date: December 28, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
An Asian Development Bank (ADB) assessment of Pakistan’s digital finance landscape noted that while millions now hold mobile wallets, cash continues to dominate daily transactions due to affordability concerns, trust deficits, uneven infrastructure, and regulatory frictions.
Establishing crypto behind the hype
Date: December 29, 2025 – Source: Dawn
Dollar shortages persist, pushing users towards digital alternatives as the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) debates regulation. Meanwhile, many have turned to crypto channels, often via unauthorized operators.
We need our own blockchain infrastructure
Date: December 29, 2025 – Source: The News
A practical middle path to financial technology success is a sovereign, permissioned blockchain: a network where validators are known institutions operating under Pakistani law, and where the primary settlement asset in PKR in digital form (a PKR stablecoin or a regulated digital PKR instrument).
Time to focus on the ‘net economy’
Date: December 29, 2025 – Source: Express Tribune
Pakistan’s economic debate has long focused on deficits and traditional exports. Yet by 2025, the digital economy – driven by information technology services, freelancing, and content creation – has become a credible growth engine.
Land record of 95 mouzas in Islamabad digitized
Date: December 30, 2025 – Source: The News
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration collaborated with the Punjab Land Records Authority (PLRA) for the scanning and data entry of land record of 95 out of 114 mouzas in the federal capital.
Three digital systems inaugurated in Lahore High Court to modernize judiciary
Date: December 31, 2025 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Express Tribune
Lahore High Court Chief Justice Aalia Neelum inaugurated three digital systems aimed at modernizing the judicial and financial management of the Punjab judiciary, marking what officials described as a historic step towards automation and transparency.
Sindh cabinet greenlights digitalization of land records
Date: December 31, 2025 – Source: Business Recorder (BR)
A cabinet meeting of the Sindh government approved the Sindh Land Revenue Bill to enable electronic transfer and digitalization of provincial land records, and also sanctioned the digital allocation of land for the Danish schools initiative.
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OBJECTIVES: This series of monthly report aims to:
- Track developments revolving around the framework of digitalization in Pakistan including policy and advocacy on digital rights, policy enforcements and digital rights violations, covering viewpoints of government, civil society, human rights community including digital rights campaigners, media, citizen journalists and other information practitioners, and regulators of electronic media, internet and telecom sectors, and netizens.
- Monitor the interface between digital rights and Pakistan’s overall legal framework and how developments around them impact freedom of expression and access to information online as well as diversity and pluralism in Pakistan’s digital landscape, cyberspace and internet domains.
- Follow developments around the themes of digital rights, freedom of expression, access to information, privacy, surveillance, data protection, access to internet services, telecom policies, etc.
INFORMATION SOURCES: This report monitors, among others, the following sources of information:
- Government: Federal and provincial cabinets
- Ministries: Related ministries, including Information and Broadcasting, Information Technology (IT) and Telecom, Human Rights, Science and Technology, Commerce and Industry, etc.
- Legislatures: Senate, National Assembly, provincial assemblies, relevant standing committees
- Regulators: Pakistan telecommunications Authority (PTA), Pakistan Electronic Media regulatory Authority (PEMRA), Press Council of Pakistan (PPC), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), etc.
- Global organizations: UN/Unesco, International Media Support (IMS), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), etc.
- National organizations: Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), BoloBhi, Media Matters for Democracy (MMFD), Institute for Research, Advocacy and Development (IRADA), Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), etc.
- Media: Dawn, The News, Express Tribune, The Nation, Pakistan Today, The Friday Times, etc.
- Social Media:Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- Local networks: Journalists Safety Hubs Network, Alliance on Diversity & Pluralism in Media, etc.
- Research groups: Gallup Pakistan, IPSOS Pakistan, etc.
