KARACHI: Social media platform X, formerly Twitter, was restored for millions of Pakistani users on Monday, over 24 hours after an independent Internet watchdog confirmed the “nation-scale” disruption amid countrywide protests against alleged election rigging.
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 the Feb. 8 national election in the country.
X continued to remain restricted for Pakistanis on Monday morning, over 24 hours after the disruptions began. 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.
Access to the social media platform was finally restored on Monday morning.
“Update: Metrics show that X/Twitter has now been restricted in #Pakistan for 24 hours,” Netblocks wrote on X on Sunday night. “The latest and longest in a series of nation-scale Internet censorship measures imposed by authorities as reports of election fraud emerge.”
Pakistani authorities remained tight-lipped over the disruption. When contacted, Malahat Obaid, director of public relations at the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), said on Sunday that the interior ministry should be reached out for a comment on the matter.
A leading Pakistani digital rights activist said the measure was a “blatant violation” of people’s civil liberties.
“It’s not good for democracy,” Nighat Dad told Arab News on Sunday. She added the shutdown of the Internet or any specific social media platform would not help tackle disinformation or security issues in the country.
“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,” Dad explained.
“Blanket shutdown is not a solution.”
Indecisive national elections on Feb. 8 were marred by a nationwide mobile service shutdown followed by delays in polls results, leading to accusations that the election was rigged and drawing concerns from rights groups and foreign governments.
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.
