Sunday night Netblocks, an Internet monitor reported that there was a nationwide outage of social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter during the one-hour “virtual power show” organized by PTI.
Internet tracking agency says that live metrics indicate a micro-level disruption to social media platforms nationwide in #Pakistan. Disrupted platforms include X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Netblocks mentioned that the incident occurred before a big online PTI conference. The online event began at 9 pm. After 8 pm in Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad it was hard for users to get on social media platforms. Users also complained that internet services were slow.
Another PTI leader, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finance minister Taimur Jhagra also pointed out that coincidental with the online rally internet problems began. The party itself described it as an “expected action”. PTA would not comment on repeated requests for a response Criticizing the interruption, lawyer and human rights activist Jibran Nasir said: But in reality, they shut down the net that affects tens of millions and hundreds of thousands of companies only to oppose one virtual rally. This is stupidity beyond description! Activist Usama Khilji also denounced the attack on “Pakistanis ‘right to information and freedom of speech”.
The PTA confirmed on May 9 that mobile broadband was suspended by orders from the interior ministry nationwide. Netblocks reported that, on the same day this happened, Internet access was restricted across Pakistan on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. In July, Pakistan came third in the world for internet restrictions established during the first half of 2023.
Surfshark is a VPN company based in Lithuania, and according to its data report, the censorship tracker group indicates that Pakistan was responsible for three out of 42 new restrictions worldwide on internet shutdowns imposed following Imran’s arrest.
In those days, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram also were shut down. At the same time, there were also several temporary cellular network disruptions across the country for a few days afterward.
Surfshark stated in a report that during the first half of 2023, Pakistan was just behind Iran and India at the top of constitutions imposing internet restrictions. Also, Asia is affected by most instances where access to information on the net has been interrupted.
