The Pakistani nation is currently undergoing a political crisis after tensions arose amid the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Leading cities of the country faced internet blackout while a complete ban on leading social media apps like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter was observed. Many also complained of having little to no access to WhatsApp too.
Tensions are running high after Imran Khan’s arrest where people took to the streets to protest against the incident but were faced with opposition from the country’s law enforcement agencies
Reports also spoke about how the country’s interior ministry had set out a suspension for ban of all mobile data services as per a new statement unveiled by the country’s telecom watchdog. NetBlocks who is known for monitoring the service of internet across the country says that all social media apps were getting restricted on leading internet providers of Pakistan at about 11am on Tuesday.
Additionally, social media restrictions and real time network data providers claim how a complete shutdown of the internet was observed in several parts of the country, as stated by NetBlocks in a follow up tweet.
This was a decision taken by the authorities in Pakistan and it’s designed to restrict freedom of the assembly and the right of the public to seek more data, the regulatory body tweeted.
Meanwhile the watchdog even says that people are trying to wrap their heads around the block by making use of VPN channels (such as CloudFlare's 1.1.1.1). Several people reported great success of circumventing the situation through this means and hence were recommending others to do the same during this dark moment in history.
The last time such an internet block arose was last year in May when the former Prime Minister was ousted by the government amid protesters flocking to the streets.
The 70 year old former leader had been taken under arrest by paramilitary forces regarding charged linked to alleged corruption that are believed to have taken place during his four year long tenure.
Imran Khan is believed to be the nation’s most popular leader of all time and that has led to several clashes arising between both supporters as well as military troops.
Meanwhile, officials present in three of the nation’s four provinces have opted to impose a state of emergency on gatherings after a huge series of riots began breaking out in several cities after the arrest. Moreover, one protester was even killed during the clashes of Tuesday while 12 more had been injured. This entailed six policemen.
So many videos and news of these types of clashes had been reported and the reports circulated across social media before there was a complete restriction of the internet access.
In August of 2022, we saw the nation’s officials bar access to YouTube after a speech was provided by Imran Khan via a livestream session on the app. There are even some reports speaking about how the ministry opted to restrict Wikipedia in February to prevent the addition of sacrilegious content from arriving on the platform.
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Leading cities of the country faced internet blackout while a complete ban on leading social media apps like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter was observed. Many also complained of having little to no access to WhatsApp too.
Tensions are running high after Imran Khan’s arrest where people took to the streets to protest against the incident but were faced with opposition from the country’s law enforcement agencies
Reports also spoke about how the country’s interior ministry had set out a suspension for ban of all mobile data services as per a new statement unveiled by the country’s telecom watchdog. NetBlocks who is known for monitoring the service of internet across the country says that all social media apps were getting restricted on leading internet providers of Pakistan at about 11am on Tuesday.
Additionally, social media restrictions and real time network data providers claim how a complete shutdown of the internet was observed in several parts of the country, as stated by NetBlocks in a follow up tweet.
This was a decision taken by the authorities in Pakistan and it’s designed to restrict freedom of the assembly and the right of the public to seek more data, the regulatory body tweeted.
⚠️ Update: In addition to social media restrictions, real-time network data show that total internet shutdowns are now in effect in some regions of #Pakistan; the disruptions have been imposed amid the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) May 9, 2023
📰 Report: https://t.co/BCs5hPpTsU pic.twitter.com/TvVCxd9btm
Meanwhile the watchdog even says that people are trying to wrap their heads around the block by making use of VPN channels (such as CloudFlare's 1.1.1.1). Several people reported great success of circumventing the situation through this means and hence were recommending others to do the same during this dark moment in history.
The last time such an internet block arose was last year in May when the former Prime Minister was ousted by the government amid protesters flocking to the streets.
The 70 year old former leader had been taken under arrest by paramilitary forces regarding charged linked to alleged corruption that are believed to have taken place during his four year long tenure.
Imran Khan is believed to be the nation’s most popular leader of all time and that has led to several clashes arising between both supporters as well as military troops.
Meanwhile, officials present in three of the nation’s four provinces have opted to impose a state of emergency on gatherings after a huge series of riots began breaking out in several cities after the arrest. Moreover, one protester was even killed during the clashes of Tuesday while 12 more had been injured. This entailed six policemen.
So many videos and news of these types of clashes had been reported and the reports circulated across social media before there was a complete restriction of the internet access.
In August of 2022, we saw the nation’s officials bar access to YouTube after a speech was provided by Imran Khan via a livestream session on the app. There are even some reports speaking about how the ministry opted to restrict Wikipedia in February to prevent the addition of sacrilegious content from arriving on the platform.
Read next: Chinese Apps Continue to Dominate US Markets Despite Privacy Issues
