ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Minister of State for Information Technology (IT) Shaza Fatima Khawaja on Sunday denied reports that the government was responsible for slowing and cutting off internet speeds across the country, saying the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) by the general public was the cause of the disruptions.
Pakistani freelancers and internet users have complained of slow internet speeds across the country this week, with the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (WISPAP) seeing a 30-40 percent drop in internet speeds this week.
The move comes as the government moves to implement a nationwide firewall to block malicious content, protect government networks from attacks and help the government identify IP addresses linked to so-called “anti-national propaganda.”
A firewall is a network security device that monitors and filters incoming and outgoing network traffic based on pre-configured security parameters. A firewall acts as a barrier with the primary goal of allowing non-threatening traffic and blocking dangerous and unwanted traffic.
“I can say under oath that the government has not shut down or slowed down the internet,” Khawaja told reporters at a news conference.
He explained that when Pakistani users download photos or stream video content online, the internet is provided by local content delivery networks (CDNs) and they do not access live internet from abroad.
The minister said most of the country’s internet bandwidth is run by domestic CDNs and caches, but the use of VPNs allows users to bypass CDNs and access the internet directly from live internet servers abroad, he said.
“As more people stop using the cache and move to the live internet, it puts stress on the entire internet and you start to see an overall slowdown of the internet,” she explained.
Khawaja said the internet slowed for several days due to “natural pressure” from people using VPNs. He said he would consult with technology experts and internet service providers next week to consider ways to prevent such internet disruptions from happening again.
The president of the Pakistan Freelancers Association (PAFLA) said this week that slow internet speeds are hurting the businesses of more than 2.3 million Pakistani freelancers.
“Not only freelancers but also IT and e-commerce companies are affected by the drastic slowdown in internet speeds,” PAFLA president Tufail Ahmed told Arab News on Thursday.
Meanwhile, freelancers in Pakistan have also complained that slow internet speeds have taken a big hit to their income.
Usman Mehmood, a freelance video animator since 2014, said slow internet speeds hinder his timely communication with clients and completion of work.
“In our line of work, project delivery is essential. Otherwise, the client [freelancers in] “It is what is happening now in other countries,” Mehmoud told Arab News on Thursday.
“We need to fix this as soon as possible to preserve all of our freelancers’ work.”