Shaza Fatima Khawaja, the state minister for information technology, refuted on Sunday that the government was to blame for the recent nationwide internet outage.
Rather, the minister attributed the slowness of “their phones” to internet users’ use of virtual private networks (VPNs).
At a news conference in Islamabad today, Khawaja asserted, “I can swear that the government of Pakistan did not block the internet or slow it down,” noting the public’s outcry over the sporadic internet problems.
The minister claimed that the government sought to resolve the issue day and night by consulting with specialists.
She also mentioned that users were using VPNs because some apps were failing to download. “Turning VPN on slows down the phone.”
