Pakistan to launch new messaging app

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has said it would “soon” launch a new messaging application, “Beep Pakistan”, which will initially be used for communication by govt employees and later made available to the general public.
The announcement came as Pakistani users have been facing problems with WhatsApp, especially when sending and receiving media files. Digital rights advocates suspect that the country’s testing and deployment of an internet firewall, intended to stifle dissent and crack down on free speech, may be the cause of the disruption.
“Beep Pakistan”, described as a local alternative to WhatsApp, has been currently undergoing trial runs within the ministry of information technology and telecommunication which says it will be launched “soon” among other government departments.
“The design of the application is robust enough to offer it to the general citizens of Pakistan at later stages, if desired,” said Shaza Fatima Khwaja, state minister for IT and telecommunication.
When the plan was announced last year, the then IT minister, Syed Aminul Haque, described it as Pakistan’s alternative to WhatsApp.
Now, govt is distancing itself from that comparison. “Any comparison to WhatsApp is misplaced as there is no intention to compete with any third-party platform,” Khwaja said, adding the purpose of this app is to protect privacy and data.
Haque, who currently heads the National Assembly’s standing committee on IT, said govt plans to roll out the application to all its employees within the next 45 days. “Then we will see the situation and launch it for the public too,” he said. Unlike WhatsApp, the former IT minister said, “Beep’s data centre will be in Pakistan, ensuring 100% safety and security. Just as China has WeChat and America has WhatsApp, Pakistan now has its own app.”
Pakistani authorities have long been concerned about WhatsApp’s security features, particularly after reports in Dec 2019 that at least two dozen senior officials were targeted by Pegasus, a spyware developed by an Israeli cybersecurity firm. At that time the Pakistan govt instructed all officials to avoid sharing sensitive and confidential documents over WhatsApp.
When asked if WhatsApp would be banned in the country following Beep Pakistan’s public launch, Khwaja, the IT minister, denied any plans to block WhatsApp in the country. Haque said he was not in favour of a ban. “But since Beep Pakistan is safe and secure we wish it to be used in Pakistan and those who want to use WhatsApp can continue to use it,” he said.