Pakistan to launch home-grown messaging app amid internet disruptions

Beep Pakistan will, at first, be limited to government communications. But officials say it could eventually be opened up for broader public use too.

Islamabad, Pakistan – The Pakistani government is set to roll out “Beep Pakistan”, a communication application designed for federal officials and employees. Its one request? Please don’t compare it to popular messaging platform WhatsApp.

Shaza Fatima Khwaja, the state minister for information technology and telecommunication, said that the application was currently undergoing trial runs within her ministry and would be launched “soon” among other government departments.

“We have developed an application focused on secure and unified communication among government officials. The purpose of Beep Pakistan is to protect our privacy and data,” she told Al Jazeera.

When in August 2023, the then-Minister of IT Syed Aminul Haque first revealed plans for the new app, he described it as Pakistan’s alternative to WhatsApp. Now though, the government 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.

The government’s announcement comes at a time when Pakistanis have been facing numerous disruptions while using the internet.

In April, the government confirmed that the social media platform X had been banned since February due to “security threats”.

In recent months, users have lodged complaints with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the country’s top telecom regulator, about internet throttling and, earlier this month, reported difficulties in accessing multimedia content on WhatsApp such as images, documents and voice notes. Information minister Attaullah