The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has blamed damage to the undersea cables connecting Pakistan to the internet for the national slowdown in Internet services rather than installing an alleged firewall at the Pakistan Internet Exchange.
This was disclosed during the hearing of a case on the installation of the firewall disrupting internet connectivity in Pakistan and thus causing a loss to those whose work is dependent on the internet, including thousands of freelancers and companies who earn precious foreign exchange for the country.
Justice Shakeel Ahmed of the Lahore High Court heard the case about slowdowns and disruptions in the internet services the other day.
During the hearing, the judge asked if all parties had submitted their response to the case.
The court was informed that the federal government has yet to submit a response.
The lawyer representing PTA told the court that the application would soon become ineffective as internet services would be restored. He further explained that the disruption had been caused by damage to the undersea internet cable that connects Pakistan to the rest of the world.
PTA said the cable will be repaired by August 28, restoring internet services in the country.
However, the petitioner's lawyer argued that internet services had been disrupted not due to the damage to the undersea cable but because the PTA was installing a firewall to filter out and block content it deemed harmful.
"The firewall is being installed to control the voice of the public," the lawyer argued, adding that it was disrupting businesses associated with IT services.
While the rest of the world adopts advanced technologies to progress, the sector in Pakistan is being deliberately destroyed.
Thousands of youngsters earn precious foreign exchange for the country through IT services and freelancing online, the petitioner argued, urging the court to declare the deliberate disruption of internet services as illegal and bind the government from not arbitrarily shutting down internet services in the future.
Justice Ahmed asked the petitioner why they did not mention the dates on which the internet was disrupted.
The petitioner said that they could include the dates of all the different requests for internet disruption in the case.
The court gave the federal government until August 27 to submit its response and also allowed amendments to the petition.
It is pertinent to mention here that the case in the Lahore High Court was filed after people reported a slowdown in internet services for the past two weeks, disruption of specific features such as downloading media on WhatsApp, and accessibility issues.
Separately, a similar case has also been approved for hearing in the Islamabad High Court.