ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday called on the government and the national telecommunications regulator to explain why the party’s main websites had been blocked in Pakistan ahead of the South Asian nation of 241 million people going to the polls on Feb. 8.
Stripped of its iconic ‘bat’ symbol for the upcoming polls over not holding intra-party elections, a legal requirement, PTI candidates now have to contest as independents, each with a different election symbol, which the party fears will become a source of confusion for voters in a country where over 40% of the population is illiterate.
To combat this potential confusion and create ease in accessing election-related information, the party launched an online portal on its website insaf.pk, as well as a “back-up site,” pticandidates.com. It also introduced a feature for voters to be able to message PTI founder former prime minister Imran Khan’s official Facebook account to get information about PTI-backed candidates.
On Friday afternoon, Arab News staffers tried to access the PTI’s websites but were unable to do so through Wi-Fi or mobile network data. The websites were accessible when using a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
“Hello @murtazasolangi @umarsaif and @PTAofficialpk , can you explain why PTI’s websites are blocked in Pakistan?” the PTI said on its official X page, addressing the information and IT ministers as well as the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.
“People are still getting symbol information from Imran Khan’s Facebook page so the question is what purpose is this block serving?”
Pakistan has experienced multiple internet disruption in recent weeks that made social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, X and Instagram inaccessible.
The most recent occurrences were on Jan. 20, Jan. 7 and Dec. 17, when the PTI was holding virtual events.
The government has said the disruptions were due to “technical glitches.”
About the Jan. 20 incident, while the PTI was holding a virtual rally, global internet monitor Netblocks said its live metrics showed a “nation-scale disruption to social media platforms across #Pakistan, including X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.”
“The incident comes as persecuted opposition leader Imran Khan's political party, PTI, launches its second virtual gathering,” Netblocks said on X.
Netblocks also confirmed a Pakistan-wide disruption to social media platforms during the PTI’s election fundraising telethon on Jan. 7.
The PTI has called on the Supreme Court to take notice of the internet suspensions, which have raised concerns about the state of freedom in the country ahead of general elections.
Such shutdowns have previously had a devastating impact on Pakistan’s economy. The day after Khan’s arrest in May last year, Reuters reported that point-of-sale transactions routed through Pakistan’s main digital payment systems fell by around 50% according to the region’s two largest payments system operators, 1LINK and Habib Bank Limited.
According to the Internet Society’s monitor Pulse, it is becoming an increasingly common tactic for governments to shutdown the internet on a national or sub-national level to either control civil unrest, stem the flow of misinformation, sway the results of general elections or to gain strategic advantages in territories like Gaza with ongoing wars.
