Pakistan govt admits tinkering with internet: Report

Islamabad: For the first time, the Pakistan government has confirmed that it was upgrading its "web management system" to cope with cyber security threats amid speculation about the installation of a so-called ‘firewall’ that could be leading to internet disruptions in the country, according to a media report on Friday.

Millions of people across Pakistan have been facing trouble accessing internet services for some time now due to limited connectivity, particularly while using mobile data in some regions.

So far, official stakeholders in Pakistan have either been feigning ignorance in response to public outcry and media queries, or claiming that the problems were because of telecom and internet service providers, or even Meta.

While talking to reporters after the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Tele­communi­cation meeting on Thursday, Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja said the government had sought a report from Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and other institutions over the internet disruption.

“The internet should never be slow. We have even been talking about bringing 5G technology to Pakistan. There is no doubt about that, and conversations about higher internet speed are underway," the Dawn newspaper quoted Khawaja as saying.

When the minister was asked about the ‘firewall’ — a blanket term used by the public to describe the causes of internet disruption in the absence of any official explanation — she said the issue had been “blown out of proportion”.

“The government has been operating a web-management system. The system is now being upgraded.” She also called the process “a routine exercise” across the globe to enhance internet security, without giving any detail to substantiate her claims about which other countries have deployed this system.

“It is the right of the government to take measures to protect its interests given the cyber security attacks that Pakistan is facing.” This was the first time an acknowledged the government’s actions, which have been blamed for everything from slow browsing speeds, the arbitrary blocking of social media platforms and WhatsApp connectivity issues on mobile data, the paper said.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, users continued experiencing pro­blems in accessing social media platforms, including WhatsApp.

Downdetector, a website that provides real-time information about internet outages, received an unusually high number of complaints about disruptions in WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram between 12 noon and 1 pm.

Meanwhile, a petition was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday against a "nationwide internet shutdown", seeking immediate restoration of internet access.