Pakistan sees nationwide internet disruption again, expert says outage 'remarkably systematic'

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second in two weeks coinciding with online campaign events organised by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, news agency AFP reported. The event was due to broadcast PTI speeches by livestream.

However, the internet disruptions were reported early evening, even before the event had started. ALSO READ: ‘They’re even scared of Imran Khan’s AI,’ Pakistani netizens react as internet slowdown during PTI's virtual meet "We can confirm the nation-scale restriction of social media platforms across Pakistan," said Alp Toker, Director of the Netblocks watchdog organisation monitoring cybersecurity and internet governance.

He told AFP the outage was "remarkably systematic" and "consistent with previous restrictions imposed during PTI events". Internet monitor Netblocks posted on X, “Live metrics show a nation-scale disruption to social media platforms across #Pakistan, including X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube; the incident comes as persecuted opposition leader Imran Khan's political party, PTI, launches its second virtual gathering." Responding to the agency’s confirmation, the PTI said, “Shame on the caretakers that are causing damage to Pakistanis only." A similar disruption occurred on January 7 and December 17 as the PTI held a virtual fundraising telethon.

ALSO READ: THIS hilarious goof-up by a cake shop in Pakistan has left internet in splits The general elections in Pakistan are scheduled to be held on February 8. Jailed Imran Khan and many prominent PTI candidates have been barred from standing for election, and in-person campaigning has been thwarted by a crackdown forcing party leaders to defect or go underground.