The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has criticized the government for ‘blocking’ access to virtual private networks (VPNs), calling it a ‘blatant attempt to end freedom of expression and access to information’.
The party’s statement came after several users reported that they were unable to connect to the VPN since Sunday, Dawn newspaper reported.
Officials called it a “short-term” disruption and attributed it to a “problem with the system.”
PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram slammed the government for ‘blocking’ VPNs, calling it unacceptable and intolerable.
He condemned the continued ban on social networking site ‘X’ and said that instead of suppressing social media users, the government should install firewalls to protect citizens from terrorist threats.
He said that the government is giving priority to controlling social media instead of having a strong strategy to deal with terrorists.
He said the authorities were “spending all their energies on distorting social media” to keep citizens “in the dark about their policies and wrongdoings”.
Waqas Akram said that the ‘wrong priorities’ of the government can be gauged from their lack of concern for the future of the country and the welfare of the people.
He said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his ‘colleagues’ are ‘begging’ for loans from the world, but have spent ‘billions of rupees’ on the firewall to rein in social media.
Secretary General PTI was referring to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) web monitoring system, also known as firewall, to filter internet traffic and restrict access to unauthorized websites.
It may be noted that earlier this month, the authority upgraded the system, which caused severe disruption in internet services, while the first users have been complaining of slow internet speed and constant disconnections for several months.
Waqas Akram urged the government not to install firewalls to target social media users and political opponents, but to use them against terrorists who are targeting innocent people on a daily basis.
