Govt blames VPN use for internet slowdown

ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja Sunday denied the involvement of the government as the reason behind the recent internet slowdown across the country.

Instead, the minister blamed the use of virtual private network (VPN) by internet users, saying it was slowing down internet.

“I can swear that the government of Pakistan did not block the internet or slow it down,” said Khawaja while addressing a press conference in Islamabad Sunday, acknowledging the public’s outrage over the intermittent internet issues.

The minister said that the government talked to experts and tried to figure out the situation day and night.

She added that some applications were not downloading so people used VPN.

The minister’s statement comes after millions across the country continue to face trouble accessing internet services due to limited connectivity, particularly while using mobile data in some regions.

Several experts, including Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (WISPAP), blamed the phenomenon on increased security and surveillance owing to the installation of a firewall in the country to control unwanted content from reaching a wider audience.

When asked about the firewall installation resulting in the internet slowdown in the country, the minister did not use the word firewall in her presser and took the stance that neither the internet was closed down nor slowed down in Pakistan. She added that the government undertakes no element of surveillance. Pakistan, she said, experienced millions of cyber attacks in the last couple of years.

She said that the rampant usage of VPN resulted into using live internet. “The rampant use of VPN resulted into increased pressure on internet” she added. She claimed that now this issue got resolved today.

She said that the Ministry of IT was not being closed down but the government was going to implement its vision of undertaking right sizing of different ministries.

Earlier this week, Khawaja had defended decision to enforce an internet firewall terming it a cybersecurity measure “that every country in the world takes”.

“Look at the cybersecurity attacks being carried out on the country and the world as well. With the evolution of cybersecurity threats, states need to have a better capability to ensure that the threats are [well] responded to,” she said on Thursday.

The minister maintained she is in contact with IT authorities regarding internet issues. “There will be a meeting on the issue of Internet next week as well.”

Revealing government efforts to tackle the issue, Khawaja said that four more internet cables are being laid in Pakistan to increase internet connectivity.

Before addressing the internet slow down issue during the presser, the minister informed journalists that the government is set to introduce 5G spectrum in the country in 2025.

“5G will provide the fastest internet,” she said.

She added that Islamabad has laid foundation stones for IT Parks in Islamabad and Karachi, which will create more than 10,000 jobs and millions of dollars will be earned.

“IT parks are being built with the help of South Korea,” said Khawaja.

The IT minister revealed that at least 250 e-employment centers will be created in collaboration with provinces across the country.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Khawaja added, has allocated more than Rs60 billion for IT in the budget despite difficult conditions, while praising the exports worth Rs3 billion in the sector.

“IT sector is among the priorities of Prime Minister and Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC),” she said, adding that a digitisation commission is being established and will be headed by the premier himself.

According to an AFP report, Pakistan´s government is throttling the internet and social media while it tests new controls , activists and business leaders say, putting the country´s economic recovery at risk.

Since July, internet networks have been up to 40 percent slower than normal, according to one IT association, while documents, images and voice notes have been disrupted on WhatsApp, used by tens of millions of people.

Digital rights experts believe the state is testing a firewall — a security system that monitors network traffic but can also be used to control online spaces.

“The Internet slowdown is due to the installation of a national firewall and content filtering system by the state aimed at increasing surveillance and at censoring political dissent, especially the criticism of the security establishment for its interference in politics,” digital rights expert and activist Usama Khilji told AFP.

The authorities appear to be targeting WhatsApp because of its end-to-end encryption capabilities, which enable users to securely share information without it being accessed by any third-party, he added.

The government and the telecommunications authority, run a by a retired general, for weeks refused to comment on the slowdown. It was the defence minister who finally acknowledged what millions of Pakistanis nationwide had already guessed.

“We are undergoing a transition after which all these facilities will be available to you,” Khawaja Muhammad Asif told media this week.

“But there will be some controls to prevent threatening and defamatory content against the state and individuals,” he added, without confirming whether those controls were part of a firewall.

Prominent Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir has launched a legal challenge against the government over “the apparent installation of a firewall” at Islamabad High Court, which is due to hear the case on Monday.

It comes as Pakistan´s military says it is battling “digital terrorism”.

After years of political instability, Pakistan´s economy is locked in a cycle of IMF bailouts and loan rollovers from neighbours.

Desperate for foreign investment to unlock stunted growth, the country is adding to its economic woes by disrupting internet service, business leaders warn.

The firewall´s “inexplicable opacity and ambiguity” is sapping Pakistan´s economic potential and could cost its IT sector up to $300 million, according to the Pakistan Software Houses Association, which represents IT firms.

Shahzad Arshad, head of the Wireless & Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, warned that if “this continues, we will see a mass exodus of businesses from Pakistan”.

He added that connectivity had slowed by up 40 percent over the past month.

WhatsApp´s texting function has been working slowly in Pakistan, but voice calls and other services have been disrupted. AFP has contacted WhatsApp parent Meta for comment.

But even as authorities throttled connectivity and access to WhatsApp, Pakistan´s Punjab province splashed out last week on adverts in New York´s Times Square — trying to sell itself as an “IT city”.

“Even if a firewall is necessary for security, trials could have saved the livelihoods of thousands of freelance software developers and avoided damage to Pakistan´s credibility as a reliable supplier of IT/IT-enabled services,” Ehsan Malik, CEO of the Pakistan Business Council said Saturday.

Shahzad Ahmad, head of the independent digital rights watchdog Bytes for All in Pakistan, said the firewall was largely designed to give the government control of the internet. “We believe that the firewall will create distrust among IT investors in Pakistan... and will also compromise citizens´ fundamental rights.”