The installation of the airwall on an experimental basis has slowed down social media in the country. say officials familiar with the situation.
The development has raised fears about the future of internet-based businesses in the country.
Officials said that after the end of the trial, the internet traffic and speed will return to normal. The government has allocated more than Rs30 billion in the development budget to acquire and install this filtering system.
These funds were given to the Ministry of Information Technology but the project is being run by another center of power and the Ministry of Information Technology’s role in this project is no more than a post office.
An official said that the work on the firewall has been going on since January this year, including procurement and installation of the system. It will take a few weeks to give control.
When asked if the firewall would affect businesses connected to the Internet, the official replied that there could be a risk, but the system is not aimed at business or commercial activities.
Another official said that while the system is meant to control social media influencers who are involved in spreading fake news in the government’s eyes, the firewall is meant to hide or block the content of those influencers.
These measures are already being taken through the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, and courts are being set up to try those caught under the Act. A PTA advertisement weeks ago tried to give the impression that the work was on the way and that the paperwork was being initiated.
An advertisement on July 11 called for tenders for the supply, installation and configuration of “Next Generation Firewalls (formerly Chinese brand – LOT A), Web Application Firewall (WAF) [LOT B] with hardware warranty for five years Next Business Day (NBD) and Support (all days of the year and every hour of the day). The last date for tender submission is 26th July.
