KARACHI: Digital rights activists and cybersecurity experts on Sunday called a shutdown of social media platform X in Pakistan a “blatant violation” of civil liberties, saying it would trigger further disinformation in the South Asian nation.
Netblocks, a UK-based Internet watchdog, on Saturday confirmed a “national-scale” disruption of X that began amid protests by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and other parties against alleged rigging of Feb. 8 national election in the country.
Access to the platform was temporarily restored on Sunday morning before it was blocked again. While it is not clear what led to the situation, social media shutdowns have mostly been witnessed in the country during periods of political unrest and volatility.
“This is a blatant violation of civil liberties. It’s not good for democracy,” said Nighat Dad, a leading Pakistani digital rights activist and lawyer, adding the shutdown of the Internet or any specific social media platform would not help tackle the issues of disinformation or security.
“Instead, it will create chaos and trigger more disinformation. If the government is faced with a security issue or the problem of disinformation, it will have to devise a proper framework keeping proportionality and necessity at the heart of such a policy. Blanket shutdown is not a solution.”
When contacted, Malahat Obaid, director of public relations at the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), said the interior ministry should be reached out for a comment on the matter.
Last week’s indecisive national election in Pakistan was marred by a nationwide mobile service shutdown that was followed by delays in polls results, leading to accusations that the election was rigged and drawing concerns from rights groups and foreign governments.
A cybersecurity specialist at a private Pakistani firm, who wished to remain anonymous, said repeated shutdowns of social media platforms and other services “are now beyond logic.”
“There is no official notification explaining this has happened or why it has happened, we hear justifications later that make no sense,” he told Arab News, adding people who wanted access to these platforms would find out a way.
“Nothing is absolutely blocked on the Internet anymore. If this is a sign of things to come, I don’t know who will have confidence in a digital Pakistan?“
The outage of X was observed after Khan’s PTI and other parties held countrywide demonstrations against alleged manipulation of election results.
“Live metrics show a new national-scale disruption to X/Twitter in #Pakistan amid escalating unrest and protests over allegations of election fraud, following a high-level resignation and public admission of vote manipulation by a senior election official,” Netblocks said on Saturday night.
Political tensions and uncertainty increased on Saturday after a top bureaucrat held a news conference, wherein he admitted to altering election results in 13 national and 26 provincial constituencies by misusing his administrative powers.
In the past, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube have also faced restrictions, coinciding with political events, indicating a pre-emptive approach by authorities to curtail the mobilization and dissemination of dissenting views.
Pakistani digital rights activists call nationwide disruption of X ‘blatant violation’ of civil liberties
https://arab.news/p4vxy
Pakistani digital rights activists call nationwide disruption of X ‘blatant violation’ of civil liberties
- The outage was reported on Saturday amid protests by political parties against alleged election rigging
- The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority says the interior ministry should be reached for comment
Pakistan PM orders accelerated privatization of power sector to tackle losses
- Tenders to be issued for privatization of three major electricity distribution firms, PMO says
- Sharif says Pakistan to develop battery energy storage through public-private partnerships
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister on Monday directed the government to speed up privatization of state-owned power companies and improve electricity infrastructure nationwide, as authorities try to address deep-rooted losses and inefficiencies in the energy sector that have weighed on the economy and public finances.
Pakistan’s electricity system has long struggled with financial distress caused by a combination of factors including theft of power, inefficient collection of bills, high costs of generating electricity and a large burden of unpaid obligations known as “circular debt.” In the first quarter of the current financial year, government-owned distribution companies recorded losses of about Rs171 billion ($611 million) due to poor bill recovery and operational inefficiencies, official documents show. Circular debt in the broader power sector stood at around Rs1.66 trillion ($5.9 billion) in mid-2025, a sharp decline from past peaks but still a major fiscal drain.
Efforts to contain these losses have been a focus of Pakistan’s economic reform program with the International Monetary Fund, which has urged structural changes in the energy sector as part of financing conditions. Previous government initiatives have included signing a $4.5 billion financing facility with local banks to ease power sector debt and reducing retail electricity tariffs to support economic recovery.
“Electricity sector privatization and market-based competition is the sustainable solution to the country’s energy problems,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a meeting reviewing the roadmap for power sector reforms, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The meeting reviewed progress on privatization and infrastructure projects. Officials said tenders for modernizing one of Pakistan’s oldest operational hubs, Rohri Railway Station, will be issued soon and that the Ghazi Barotha to Faisalabad transmission line, designed to improve long-distance transmission of electricity, is in the initial approval stages. While not all power-sector decisions were detailed publicly, the government emphasized expanding private sector participation and completing priority projects to strengthen the electricity grid.
In another key development, the prime minister endorsed plans to begin work on a battery energy storage system with participation from private investors to help manage fluctuations in supply and demand, particularly as renewable energy sources such as solar and wind take a growing role in generation. Officials said the concept clearance for the storage system has been approved and feasibility studies are underway.
Government briefing documents also outlined steps toward shifting some electricity plants from imported coal to locally mined Thar coal, where a railway line expansion is underway to support transport of fuel, potentially lowering costs and import dependence in the long term.
State authorities also pledged to address safety by converting unmanned railway crossings to staffed ones and to strengthen food safety inspections at stations, underscoring broader infrastructure and service improvements connected to energy and transport priorities.
