Internet users continue to face disruption as govt deadline for restoration nears

ISLAMABAD: Internet slowdown issues continue across the country with users facing disruption in services ahead of the government’s deadline for full restoration by the end of October.

Last week, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Major General (retd) Hafeezur Rahman said that the prevailing issue of internet disruption in the country would be resolved by the end of October, expressing denial about the government slowing down the services.

The PTA, a month ago, claimed that the slow internet speed would improve across the country in October, attributing the disruption to a fault in the undersea cable and insisting that the issue would be fixed at the beginning of October. Users, however, continue to face slow internet speed which has become a constant cause of concern for Pakistanis since February this year, as the issue has intensified, particularly in the last five or six days with the internet cut off completely in areas where political protests were being carried out.

“I do not defend internet shutdown but national security is a priority. This time on Muharram 10, the mobile service was not widely shut down. The internet service was shut down in certain areas only at certain times,” the PTA chief had said.

Users also continue to wait for relief from the courts regarding the petitions filed against the internet slowdown and X shutdown. Commenting on the constant disruption, digital rights advocate Haroon Baloch said the government had found a refuge in this notion of upgrading web management system, cyber security and countering fake news, among other issues, which are interlinked in strengthening state-inflicted censorship and surveillance ecosystem in the country for gaining control. “Non-transparency in overall digital governance matters is extremely frustrating as the government is not ready to be held accountable,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bolo Bhi Co-founder Fareiha Aziz — when speaking during Geo News programme ‘Geo Pakistan’ — said that mobile internet is shut down whenever there is a protest and WhatsApp disruption is also continuing in the country as media transfer has become difficult without the use of the virtual private network (VPN) or without WiFi connection. “This has now become a new normal,” she said, highlighting the government’s intentions to curb political protests through the disruption of internet in the country. Commenting on the ban on X, Aziz said she doesn’t see any likelihood of the ban being lifted from the social media application. “Petitions have been filed in all high courts across the country.” The digital rights expert maintained that even in the courts, the PTA has been issuing contradictory statements regarding the ban. “The government narrative has so far insisted on banning X due to national security,” she added. Earlier Tuesday, the Sindh High Court (SHC) heard petitions against the closure of X during which the state’s counsel submitted a record of responses to the rejection of applications related to X. The court ordered the provision of documents to all the parties. The petitioner’s lawyer, during arguments, maintained that the ministers of the federal government are using X themselves, but the facility is not being provided to the general public. The court then adjourned further hearing of the plea until October 17.