Pakistan: Internet disruptions continue despite contrary promises

Islamabad: The internet users in Pakistan continue to witness major disruptions as the date promised by the authorities to resolve the issue comes closer, The News International reported.

Recently, the Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Retd. Major General Hafeezur Rahman, took a U-turn from the PTA's own promise to resolve the issue last month, also expressing denial towards internet speed slowing down in the country.

Attributing the slow speed of the internet within Pakistan due to the underwater cables, the PTA last month insisted that the fault would be fixed at the beginning of October. But almost after a week, users continue to face patchy internet services, especially on their mobile phones.

Users witnessing slow internet speeds have become a constant reason of concern for Pakistanis since February this year and 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, The News International reported.

Currently, these users also await relief from Pakistan's courts regarding the petitions filed against the internet slowdown and shutdown of social media platform X.

Commenting on the constant disruption, digital rights advocate Haroon Baloch alleged that the government has found an 'excuse' in this notion for not upgrading web management systems and cyber security to counter fake news. The issue is interlinked with strengthening state-inflicted censorship and surveillance ecosystems in Pakistan for gaining control over the general public, as reported by The News International.

Meanwhile, Bolo Bhi, co-founder Fareiha Aziz, while speaking at a Geo News programme stated 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.

Responding to the ban on X, Aziz said that she doesn't see any likelihood of lifting the ban 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.