Pakistan continues to suffer from social media disruptions, such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, as the government’s continued measures against controlling political agitation- covered up by security measures from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) march toward Islamabad.
Users nationwide have reported significant access-wide issues where most cannot surf social media and rely on communication platforms. Downdetector, a monitoring service app, reported that users in Pakistan are having problems accessing these platforms and experiencing a general slowdown of internet speeds.
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The government previously gave a plan to interrupt internet services in sensitive areas on arguments of security but did not give an explanation for the social media disruption. The void created opened speculation since the outages happen just as PTI’s protest neared.
An Islamabad-based journalist felt it quite frustrating, asserting that one does not know what daily activities are like to do without this link. “Surviving without the internet is almost impossible in this day and age, whether it’s for work or education,” he said.
In Karachi, a 27-year-old citizen vented his frustrations to the local media, explaining that the internet’s slow speeds almost made it impossible for him to share media on WhatsApp. “It’s super frustrating and slows everything down,” he said.
An Islamabad-based woman citizen described the shutdowns as an infringement on citizens’ rights to information and free speech. “The irony is that the government itself uses these platforms,” she stated while exposing the contradiction in the actions of authorities.
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They are disruptions towards more government wide efforts to restrict PTI from mobilising for an expected uprising. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government has called thousands of police and paramilitary forces for this purpose around Islamabad to quell any eventuality.
Also, with the continuous disruptions imposed by the PTI leader Imran Khan requesting his supporters to gather in the capital, the provocation nervous in this part of the world is birthed regarding the kind of digital censorship incidents among the populace within Pakistan.