Amid controversial polls, disruption of social media reported from Pak

ISLAMABAD: A nation-wide disruption of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, was reported by users and internet watchdogs in Pakistan on Saturday, a media report said.

NetBlocks, a global internet watchdog, said the incident comes "amid political turmoil after the controversial elections held under an internet and mobile network blackout", The Express Tribune reported.

Pakistan on Thursday witnessed a countrywide shutdown of internet and cellular phone services during the polling process with the authorities attributing the move to "maintain law and order" in the wake of the violence that occurred a day earlier.

However, the suspension was denounced by Amnesty International, which described it as a “reckless attack on people’s rights”, as well as experts and political stakeholders, particularly the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a political party that relied heavily on social media platforms for its electoral campaign.

In the run-up to the February 8 general elections, Pakistan suffered from multiple internet disruptions and slow-downs. The interim government justified the disruptions as 'technical glitches', The Express Tribune reported.

However, earlier on Saturday, the Foreign Office denied that there was any wide-scale internet disruption on polling day.

It must be noted that all the internet shutdowns have coincided with virtual events organised by the PTI, The Express Tribune reported.