ISLAMABAD: Nationwide disruption to social media platform X passed the one-week mark in Pakistan on Saturday, with digital rights monitors warning outages were quashing dissent after an election marred by rigging claims.
The platform, formerly known as Twitter, was downed last Saturday after a senior government official made a public admission of vote manipulation in the February 8 poll.
Over the past week, it has been operational only intermittently, with access varying depending on the Internet service provider.
“Pakistan’s directed use of network shutdowns and restrictions to overtly target political parties and the reporting of election irregularities is unprecedented,” Alp Toker of the NetBlocks web watchdog told AFP.
AFP staff reported that X remained disrupted in the capital Islamabad as well as the megacities of Lahore and Karachi on Saturday.
Pakistan’s telecommunication authority declined to comment while the interior ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party called for nationwide protests after the admission of vote-rigging last week.
“Protesting political parties have actively been using X for freedom of expression, access to information, to assemble online and for other associated rights,” said web monitor Bytes for All.
The disruption “restricts citizens’ ability to engage in online discourse, share information, and express dissenting opinions,” the organization wrote in a report published Friday.
In the months leading to the polling day, PTI suffered a crackdown restricting canvassing and forcing candidates to run as independents.
Its campaign moved mostly online where social media events were censored by numerous nationwide blackouts of X as well as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube.
Outages were blamed on “technical difficulties” by the government.
Despite the restrictions, PTI-backed candidates gained more seats than any other party. But it has been unwilling to ally with rivals, paving the way for the military-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to form a government.
Mobile Internet services were cut across the country on the election day, with the interior ministry citing security reasons.
The blackout, coupled with a long delay in issuing voting results, gave rise to allegations of rigging.
X platform disrupted in Pakistan for full week after disputed election
https://arab.news/gxc7x
X platform disrupted in Pakistan for full week after disputed election
- NetBlocks calls Pakistan’s use of network shutdowns and restrictions to overtly target political parties unprecedented
- Internet monitors say the situation is restricting citizens’ ability to engage in online discourse, express dissenting opinions
Pakistan to take on India in Super Six fixture of Men’s U19 World Cup — PCB
- Pakistan need to defeat India by a healthy margin to secure a spot in semifinals
- England sit at the top of the table with six points in the mega cricket tournament
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan are all geared up to take on India in their final Super Six fixture of the ICC Under-19 (U19) Men’s Cricket World Cup, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said late Friday.
Pakistan will face arch-rivals India at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Sunday, February 1, with the first ball scheduled to be bowled at 9.30am local time.
The last time two sides met was during the ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup final, where Pakistan defeated India by 191 runs to clinch the title at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai. Sameer Minhas scored 172 runs while right-arm pacer Ali Raza bagged four wickets.
Pakistan, who currently have four points and are placed third in Group 2 of the Super Six stage, need to defeat India by a healthy margin to secure a spot in the semifinals. England sit at the top of the table with six points and are currently playing New Zealand at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
“Our next match is against India, which is very important as there is a semifinal at stake. We have clear plans for every match and we put in a lot of hard work accordingly,” said Usman Khan, who has scored 122 runs from four matches in the ongoing mega event.
“We will try to perform well in the next game to qualify for the next stage.”
After arriving in Bulawayo from Harare on Wednesday afternoon, Pakistan took a day off before participating in a scenario-based practice game at the Bulawayo Athletic Club on Friday. Pakistan will also take part in a training session at the same venue today (Saturday).
“Before the tournament, we held several camps in Multan where a strong focus was placed on fielding. We had productive sessions there and as a result the team has improved a lot in this department,” Khan said.
“Our preparations have been very good. The scenario-based match was of high quality and it closely reflected actual match conditions.”
PAKISTAN SQUAD
Farhan Yousaf (captain), Usman Khan (vice-captain), Abdul Subhan, Ahmed Hussain, Ali Hasan Baloch, Ali Raza, Daniyal Ali Khan, Hamza Zahoor (wk), Huzaifa Ahsan, Momin Qamar, Mohammad Sayyam, Niqab Shafiq, Sameer Minhas and Umar Zaib
