Pakistani gov't denies hand in ongoing internet disruptions as businessmen warn of 'huge' losses

KARACHI, Pakistan

The Pakistani government on Sunday claimed that it has nothing to do with the ongoing internet disruptions, which have affected online businesses, mainly the country's over 2.37 million freelancers working online.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, State Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja said that reports about government's involvement in the internet disruptions are “completely false.”

"I can say under oath that the government neither shut down nor slowed down the internet,” she said.

Her remarks come amid internet disruptions across the country with speculations that the government is installing "firewall" to monitor the internet traffic.

“Reports suggesting that the internet was being throttled are completely false. The issue was limited to a few services on certain apps not downloading, which led a large segment of the population to start using VPNs (Virtual Private Networks),” she added.

According to her, when a large number of people use VPNs to bypass Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) or local caches and connect directly to live servers, it puts additional pressure on those servers, which can ultimately slow down the internet.

The government has already banned social media app X, describing it as a "threat to national security," forcing the users to rely on VPNs.

- 'Disruptions causing huge losses'

Business community, and freelancers, for their part, criticized the government for frequent connectivity issues, which are causing "huge" economic losses.

"Pakistan is the fourth largest country in the world in terms of freelancers, who are facing a great deal of difficulties due to internet outages," said Tufail Ahmad Khan, the chief operating officer of Pakistan Freelancers Association.

Speaking to Anadolu, he said Pakistani freelancers have incurred "huge" financial and other business-related losses due to internet disruptions over the past one and half weeks.

Ali Ihsan from the Pakistan Software Houses Association warned that Pakistan could lose up to $300 million because of internet disruptions.

Pakistan Business Council, a group of multinational companies operating in the country, on Friday warned: "Many multinational companies are either planning to relocate their back offices from Pakistan or have already done so, as the reported imposition of a firewall causes widespread internet disruptions across the country."