KARACHI: Following a more than 36-hour shutdown that began on February 17 (Saturday), social media site X was once again accessible in Pakistan on Monday.

The worldwide internet watchdog Netblocks announced on Saturday that there was a “national-scale 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 Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaqat Ali Chatha. Chatha acknowledged that there had been vote-rigging while he was in charge, which sparked new controversy over the poll results.

⚠ Update: Metrics show that X/Twitter has now 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 https://t.co/XAsM39sBb5 pic.twitter.com/ZKIhINj3Pc

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) February 18, 2024

The platform’s ongoing ban was mentioned by the watchdog in an update on Sunday, describing it as “the latest and longest in a series of nation-scale internet censorship measures imposed by authorities.”

But it’s crucial to remember that X was briefly restored yesterday before being blocked once more, and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) isn’t answering questions.

Digital rights campaigner Usama Khilji criticized the government for placing limitations on the internet.

“In the last three months, we have observed that social media apps have been blocked 5,6 times in Pakistan. Not only that, but mobile internet was also blocked on election day and the day after,” he said.

He stated that this is a very worrying issue since, in addition to the government being prohibited from blocking the internet by laws or the Constitution, the Sindh High Court has also issued an order prohibiting the authorities from severing the connection.

According to the activist, a lot of people now believe that internet blockages are to blame for the inconsistencies in the results compilation, which raises concerns about the entire democratic election process.

“Why are there so many restrictions on internet services in Pakistan? This is hurting the country’s overall investment climate, especially in the IT sector,” the PTA chairperson ought to be questioned.

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He concurred with the anchor that these blockades severely affect IT companies, and that Pakistan loses $53 million every day if the internet is unavailable, according to Netblocks, a global internet monitoring organization.

According to Khilji, the government organization Pakistan Institute for Development Economics had calculated that the Internet blockage would cost Rs1.3 billion.

In addition to this, it detracts from the ease of conducting business and damages your reputation. Foreign investors dislike doing business with us, which hurts the IT sector, which is the only one in the nation that is expanding and bringing in foreign exchange.

He refuted the notion that social media solely serves to propagate misinformation and mentioned that self-correction mechanisms exist.

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“Many contend that regulations are necessary to combat misinformation and fake news, but who will determine what constitutes misinformation, and if misinformation is disseminated by the government, it will not hold itself accountable or punish its own officials?

To combat this, we must make use of co-regulation and self-correction systems. Not only that, but social media platforms also provide reporting mechanisms that need to be employed.

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