The Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Syed Amin-ul-Haque, has distanced his ministry from the recent internet blackout, which occurred in Pakistan.
In an interview with a local news channel, the Minister stated that the Ministry of IT was not “taken into confidence” before mobile internet services were suspended.
He added that since 2017, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) no longer falls under the Ministry of IT and has been operating as an independent organization.
The Minister went on to explain that blocking social media websites or the internet altogether was not a solution to any problem.
He advised against using VPNs to access blocked sites and instead encouraged people to be open-minded.
As an alternate solution, he suggested that the internet could be blocked in specific areas only.
The Minister also highlighted that the IT sector incurred losses worth billions of rupees due to the blocking of internet services.
Following the arrest of former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, violent protests broke out in the country, leading to the suspension of mobile broadband and restricted access to Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The government restored access to social media platforms, including Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, after almost a week-long suspension.
The Minister stated that blocking the internet was not the solution to any problem, and alternate solutions needed to be explored.
Via: Geo
Agree here in Karachi north region it was never blocked