Islamabad, Aug 26: The government’s failure to offer a convincing justification for the continuous nationwide internet slowness has angered the Islamabad High Court. Chief Justice Amir Farooq questioned government officials’ contradicting remarks during a hearing on the matter and sought clarification on the problem, which has significantly disrupted society, especially Pakistan’s expanding freelance community.
Chief Justice Amir Farooq heard the matter, which was brought forth by petitioners who were upset about the firewall and ongoing internet problems. To the chief justice’s obvious annoyance, the Ministry of Information Technology’s attorney, however, was unable to offer precise information about why internet speeds have decreased nationwide.
The chief justice questioned, “Why is the internet slow?” and the administration was unable to satisfactorily respond. In court, the Ministry of IT’s attorney stated, “I don’t know anything about this.”The Ministry of Information Technology has not created any such policy.” The assistant attorney general said that the issue was caused by damage to submarine cables, noting that repairs for one broken cable would likely take up to a month, while repairs for the other line had been severed and were anticipated to be completed by August 28. He told the court, “Another message was received at night that another submarine cable has been cut off.”
The court, however, found this explanation inadequate. “The petitioner is unaware of what is going on with the individuals who have appeared in court. The Chief Justice? “Who is in charge of repairing the damaged cable, if any?” inquired the CJ. In response, the PTA’s attorney stated that numerous businesses are accountable for mending malfunctioning wires.
“Why do always Pakistan’s cables face such problems?” Chief Justice Amir Farooq asked, seeming irritated by the persistent problem. In addition, he questioned why the public wasn’t adequately informed by the government about the reason behind the slowdown, asking, “If the cable is cut, why didn’t you tell the public?”
He added that no one was taking accountability in Islamabad or the Lahore court for a similar motion that was being heard there as well. The PTA attorney declared, “I will not pursue the case if I am not properly briefed.Look at the newspapers from the last ten days; there is a contradiction in the statements made by ministers and the PTA chairman,” the chief justice said. For the previous ten days, the business community has also been grumbling.”
Imaan Mazari, the petitioner’s attorney, emphasized that functions like voice notes and photo sharing were not working properly on some smartphone applications, including WhatsApp. Confusion surrounding the matter was increased when she claimed that these problems had nothing to do with the damage to the submarine cable and that the government’s efforts to modernize its monitoring system might be the true source of the issue.
The chief justice also discussed the negative economic effects of the internet outage, stressing that a large number of young people depend on freelancing as a means of support and that the outage has resulted in large losses. He took issue with the government’s promotion of digital programs like online banking while neglecting to keep up the infrastructure required to enable these services.
Chief Justice Farooq said, “Leave the other things, the economic loss related to the Internet has happened,” highlighting the wider effects of the internet problems on Pakistan’s economy. “You are deceiving the public. I’m not sure who the public should believe.”
Given the inadequate replies from the government and the inconsistent remarks made by different officials, the Islamabad High Court has called the Ministry of Information Technology’s technical member to attend in person at the upcoming hearing on September 3. A thorough report on the subject to be given at that time was also required by the court.
