The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Monday issued a clarification regarding a notification being circulated on social media that suggests the PTA has suspended the operations of Telenor in Pakistan.

In its statement, the PTA said the public should refrain from sharing the notification, as it was not from the PTA and was fabricated and misleading.

"PTA is aware of a false advertisement circulating via WhatsApp chat groups for users of a mobile operator. PTA clarifies that the aforementioned advertisement is fake," said Telenor in a separate statement.

"The public is advised to always check official information sources such as PTA's website at http://pta.gov.pk or its Twitter and Facebook page for latest news/updates," the authority said.

Although the Norwegian government has distanced itself from the incident, a far-right rally by a group called "Stop The Islamisation of Norway" (SION) has defined the perception of Norway on Pakistani Twitter. Social media users called for the Norwegian government to apologize for the incident, and praised a Lebanese-Norwegian who stopped one of the organizers from burning religious scriptures.

Some users went on to suggest the banning of Norwegian telecommunications corporate, Telenor.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan