The problem here lies with Pakistan, not Apple and Google.
An alternate App Store operating in Pakistan would be subject to the same unjust laws as them. The most Apple and Google can do is leave the market. There's an argument for that, but that doesn't make those apps available in Pakistan, and, more importantly, doesn't end the oppression of Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan.
There are arguments against gatekeeping tech companies, but this isn't one of them.
From the article:
> The PTA also ordered shut a US-based Ahmadi site, TrueIslam.com, threatening its administrators with criminal charges that carry a $3 million fine. The decision may not be enforceable, since the people who run the site, including Zafar, do not live in Pakistan.
Android already allows side loading apps which don't have to come from an app store.
I don't think so. Why wouldn't Pakistan simply require them to block it anyway?
> ...since the people who run the site, including Zafar, do not live in Pakistan
Not relevant. In this case, Apple and Google do business in Pakistan. You can argue they need to leave the market. If so, let's hear it. (Personally, I don't think that would have an impact or be the right way to go even if it did.)
The Pakistani government can require that Apple and Google block certain apps and require that they maintain their ability to do so.
I don't dispute that Apple and Google do gatekeeping. They do. We can discuss the pros and cons of it. But that is simply not issue here.
In general, we do not see governments doing this, no.
For example, I am sure that some people in Pakistan own intel/windows computers.
But Pakistan is not making laws that require every single intel/windows computer to block certain content, at the hardware level of the PC.
That is something that seems pretty difficult to enforce on all PCs.
If phones worked more like PCs, then it is likely that they would enjoy similar benefits.
Would they, though? How can you stop arbitrary APK downloads from the internet? Or a site that constantly changes its domain? Look at how blocking places like The Pirate Bay goes.
I think there is more to be said for the impact of Apple and Google leaving the Pakistani market than you grant.
Google is willing to leave the Australian market because they don't want to share revenues with the newspapers they skim for headlines, but they will suppress religious minorities to comply with theocratic governments.
These Western companies do not hold any values.