In this digital era the Government of Pakistan has introduced a new term in social media vocabulary and it is load shedding of X — Pakistan’s media regulators have blocked the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, with users across the country on Thursday enduring the sixth day of sweeping disruptions, partial and complete shutdowns.
The netizens sought out a solution by installing Virtual Private Network (VPN) on their devices as UPS and inverter in case of electricity load shedding
There was no comment on the outage by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and government officials have not responded to repeated queries from The Associated Press for comment.
Human rights activists have demanded a full restoration of internet services and access to social media. Washington has also urged Pakistan to lift restrictions on X.
The outage was first observed over the weekend when the political party of Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan announced protests against what it says were rigged Feb. 8 parliamentary elections.
In the vote, candidates backed by Khan, who was barred from running, won most seats but short of a simple majority needed to form a government.
Social media platforms are often used by protest organizers to call followers out to the streets and spread the word about planned demonstrations.
Pakistan has witnessed an increase in political instability since the balloting. The country’s elections oversight body denies charges by Khan’s party that the vote was stolen. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party or TPI said on Thursday that the restrictions on X have been placed by the authorities to suppress its voice on social media.
https://apnews.com/b638f8985e8e4719a12f25ad5220caac
USA concerns
Expressing his thoughts on the issue the US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said:
“We are aware of the restrictions on the internet by the Pakistani government. We would like to say to Pakistan that it should respect freedom of speech. Access to social media for netizens should be assured immediately.”
https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2464481/pakistan
Miller said: “We will continue to stress the need for respecting fundamental rights during our engagement with Pakistan.”
Sindh High Court ordered to restore ‘X’
Meanwhile on Thursday Sindh High Court ordered PTA to restore social media platform ‘X’ across the country . A two judged- bench issued the orders while hearing the petition filed by journalists Zarar Khorro and Muna Khan and others .
