Islamabad, Pakistan – The Pakistani government is gearing up to launch “Beep Pakistan,” a new communication app tailored for federal officials and employees.
Initially, the app will be restricted to government use, but there are plans to expand its availability to the general public in the future.
Shaza Fatima Khwaja, the state minister for information technology and telecommunication, emphasized that Beep Pakistan is not intended to compete with popular messaging platforms like WhatsApp.
Currently undergoing trial runs within the IT ministry, Beep Pakistan is designed to offer secure and unified communication for government officials, ensuring privacy and data protection.
The app is expected to be introduced to other government departments shortly.
The announcement of Beep Pakistan comes amid ongoing internet disruptions in the country. In recent months, Pakistanis have faced issues with internet throttling and difficulties accessing multimedia content on WhatsApp.
Additionally, the government banned the social media platform X in February due to security concerns.
Concerns about WhatsApp’s security have been prevalent in the Pakistani government, especially after reports in December 2019 revealed that senior officials were targeted by Pegasus spyware.
In response, the government advised officials to avoid sending sensitive documents via WhatsApp and began developing a local communication app to enhance security.
Khwaja assured that Beep Pakistan aims to provide secure communication for the government and will not replace WhatsApp for personal use. Babar Majid Bhatti, the chief executive of the National Information Technology Board (NITB), reiterated that comparisons with WhatsApp are irrelevant, as Beep Pakistan serves a different purpose.
For now, Beep Pakistan will be an official platform for government communication, with potential expansion to the general public later on, ensuring data privacy and protection for all users.