IT minister: Reports that the government is throttling internet access are "completely false."

Following nationwide internet outages and rumors about firewall installations, State Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja called allegations that the government was restricting internet access "wholly untrue" on Sunday.

 
Khawaja said on Thursday that when residents of several Pakistani cities reported they were having trouble connecting to the internet, the government has instructed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and other pertinent authorities to submit a report.

 Additionally, she affirmed that in order to address cyber security issues, the government was in fact updating its "web management system."

Her remarks were made the day after internet service providers and the business community said that increased government attempts to monitor internet traffic, including the installation of a so-called "firewall," had led to a significant national slowdown in services, which causes economic losses.

On August 21, the Lahore High Court issued a summons to the information ministry, the PTA, and the federal government for internet outages.

During a press conference held in Islamabad today, Khawaja acknowledged the public's recent frustration with internet-related problems.

She declared, "I want to reassure the public that the state has not slowed down or shut down the internet."

"It is entirely untrue that reports claiming the internet was being throttled are out of date. Because only a few services on specific applications were having trouble downloading, a sizable portion of the public began utilizing VPNs.