Internet monitor Netblocks has stated that its metrics show that social media platform X has been restricted in Pakistan for 24 hours, “the latest and longest in a series of nation-scale internet censorship measures imposed by authorities as reports of election fraud emerge”.
A day earlier Netblocks had reported a nationwide disruption to X “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”.
The development had come after Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha accused the Election Commission of Pakistan and Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa of involvement in ‘rigging’ — a claim denied by the electoral watchdog and the top judge.
Earlier today, the director Bolo Bhi, an advocacy forum for digital rights, Usama Khilji had said that X was inaccessible for many except via select VPNs.
“Most users complaining their VPNs are also blocked and internet is slow,” he said, noting that there was no official word from the telecom authority or the IT minister “whose job is to ensure seamless internet access”.
