PTA denies blocking Amazon Web Services in Pakistan

Users on social media speculated PTA was behind interruption in AWS

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has not taken any action to block VPNs or other services related to Amazon Web Services (AWS), the authority announced on Twitter.

PTA has not taken any action to block VPNs or other services related to Amazon Web Services(#AWS). The information being spread on social media is not credible.

— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) July 24, 2020

The clarification followed President of P@SHA, Jehan Ara’s tweet, in which she questioned whether PTA was behind the interruption in AWS. Jehan Ara is also a member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on IT and Telecom and Punjab Board of Investment and Trade.

After startups began reporting a break in services Jehan Ara tweeted, "If this interruption in access to cloud services is caused by PTA perhaps it is time someone in government did something about it. We don’t need any more of a hit on our economy."

If this interruption in access to cloud services is caused by PTA perhaps it is time someone in government did something about it. We don’t need any more of a hit on our economy #aws #connectivity #access

— jehan_ara (@jehan_ara) July 24, 2020

Earlier, she noted that the services were accessible via VPNs. 

Apparently working fine through VPNs https://t.co/a2dY2lHDsy

— jehan_ara (@jehan_ara) July 24, 2020

However, PTA denied any involvement in the disruption of Amazon Web Services in Pakistan, adding that the rumors circulating on social media were not 'credible'.

The episode adds to the climate of distrust created by recent decisions such as the PUBG ban and PTA's demand that businesses and general public register VPNs.