Social media platforms in Pakistan experienced a “national-scale disruption” on Saturday, according to reports by internet monitor Netblocks, during a virtual rally by the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by embattled former prime minister Imran Khan.
Netblocks issued a statement declaring that their official metric demonstrated disruptions to X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. PTI’s virtual rally was live-streamed during this disruption, in which key leaders of PTI, including barrister Gohar Ali Khan Ghor, spoke during the event. The party paid tribute to Imran Khan, who they state has been “illegally incarcerated” for 169 days. This was their second rally to be held before Pakistan’s next election, which is set to be held in just over two weeks.
The internet disruption has been condemned by both PTI and the Human Rights Council of Pakistan. The Human Rights Council of Pakistan stated that “Such a ban on social media is tantamount to restricting freedom of expression.” PTI stated that interference by authorities caused the disruption, commenting that the government has a “track record of disrupting internet access whenever the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan is holding an online election campaign activity.”
PTI has faced many drawbacks in the run-up to this election, including complications with their election symbol, a bat, which was revoked by Pakistan’s Supreme Court. PTI founder, Imran Khan, remains in prison following his arrest over alleged corruption in May.
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