Firewalls and fables: Pakistan’s digital mystery tour

What appears to have united the entire Pakistani nation in recent days? Answer: A nationwide adventure in digital ambiguity!

For months, the country has been in the throes of speculation about the government installing an internet ‘firewall’. It’s widely believed that this decision is aimed at curbing the audacious act of Pakistanis expressing political dissent on social media.

Important state institutions, they say, are irked by the ordinary citizens’ sense of self-importance. You are a true Pakistani only as far as you don’t consider yourself important enough to have opinions on how the country should be governed.

In recent weeks, the country has suffered serious internet disruptions. True to type, the government has either stayed mum or provided a buffet of excuses. The IT minister and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority chairman seem to have ignored the infamous need to be on ‘one-page’.

Let’s explore who said what and when. And whether Pakistanis are any closer to understanding what’s going on after all that’s been said and done.

After days of keeping the public in the dark, on August 15, IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khwaja admitted that the government was upgrading its 'web management system' against 'cyber security threats'.

The minister’s acknowledgment came as she spoke to reporters after the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Tele­communi­cation’s meeting.

The people finally had a plausible explanation for what was happening to their internet. Their service providers were perhaps glad they wouldn’t be getting any more cranky phone calls.

Only three days later, the minister offered a different explanation. In a press conference, on August 19, she denied all reports of the government throttling the internet.

In a hilarious attempt at scapegoating an entire people, she blamed the sluggish internet speeds on people trying to access certain apps using VPNs - a reference to how millions of Pakistanis have been accessing X since an unexplained ban on it following the contentious February 8 elections.

Enter PTA chairman, Major General (retd) Hafeezur Rehman.

Two days after the VPN excuse, Rehman blamed a fault in the submarine cable disrupting the internet. He told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication that the cable will be repaired by August 27.