PAKISTAN has an enormous appetite for online content. According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, it leads the world in daily YouTube viewership, with 96m users watching 560m videos a day. TikTok and WhatsApp command similarly vast audiences. And yet millions of Pakistanis struggle with slow connections, patchy mobile coverage, and unreliable service. A video may load eventually, but a student attending a virtual class or a small business processing a payment cannot afford interruptions. The government should, therefore, measure digital progress by whether people can depend on the internet to learn, work, and earn, rather than by the number of accounts opened or videos watched. In smaller towns and rural areas, adequate coverage remains elusive, deepening inequalities between citizens who can access opportunities online and those who cannot. Even in major cities, users complain of poor service. The expansion of 5G to selected cities is welcome, but it means little to those struggling with basic connectivity. Investment in fibre networks, wider coverage, and network maintenance must be matched with affordable packages and meaningful regulatory oversight. Operators should be held to measurable service standards, while arbitrary curbs that disrupt communications and business must end.

Infrastructure alone, however, will not create a digitally capable society. Pakistan’s extraordinary social media consumption tells us little about how confidently its citizens can navigate the online world. Many users remain vulnerable to scams, identity theft, and the misuse of personal information. Others lack the skills to apply digital tools to education and employment. Digital literacy must become a priority, beginning in schools and extending through colleges, vocational institutes, and training centres. Lessons must go beyond operating smartphones to cover online safety, fact-checking, privacy, digital payments, and responsible AI use. Special efforts are needed to reach women, older citizens, and rural populations. Public institutions could work with telecom companies, educators, and civil society to offer practical instruction in local languages. Such programmes would help turn passive consumption into useful participation in the digital economy. Pakistan has no shortage of people willing to go online. What it lacks is a reliable network and a broad base of skills to make that access worthwhile.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2026