Meta says it took steps to protect human rights defenders ahead of Pakistan's 2024 polls

Meta implemented extensive measures to safeguard human rights and election integrity in Pakistan's 2024 elections, according to its latest Human Rights report.

The report highlighted Meta's efforts to mitigate risks, including content moderation to handle government takedown requests. In December 2023, Meta received requests from Pakistan’s government to remove content that did not violate its Community Standards or local laws.

The platform said in its report that it chose not to comply with these requests and instead focused on transparency, publishing details in its Transparency Center.

“We published a real-time case study in our Transparency Center about takedown requests received in December 2023 from the Pakistan government that did not violate our Community Standards or local law,” the report stated.

Ahead of the elections, the report said that Meta engaged in stakeholder outreach, holding briefings with regional human rights advocates on election integrity efforts.

5 times international internet cable failures led to disruptions in Pakistan between Apr 2023 and Aug 24 Amber Shamsi

“Stakeholder engagement was critical,” the report emphasized, outlining how these efforts aimed to ensure Meta’s approach to government action requests aligned with human rights principles.

The company also collaborated with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to explain its approach to handling content takedown requests and to address concerns about digital rights.

In response to internet throttling during the run-up to the election, Meta shared information on setting up proxy servers to maintain access to WhatsApp.

Meta further contributed to statements of concern issued by multi-stakeholder groups such as the Global Network Initiative (GNI) and Asia Internet Coalition regarding rights-infringing legislation and internet disruptions.

Internet disruptions

The report comes as users in Pakistan have been experiencing internet disruptions since mid-July. Internet speeds dropped by 30%-40% in August 2024, costing IT companies hundreds of millions of dollars.

The government had said that the issues would be resolved by September 24.

According to DataReportal.com, 111 million Pakistanis in the nation of more than 240 million have access to internet. The country has nearly 189 million active cellular connections.