The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority confirmed on Tuesday that mobile broadband services had been suspended nationwide upon the directive of the interior ministry.
Access to Social media sites limited across Pakistan
Netblocks, an internet outage monitoring organization, reported that access to Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube had been limited throughout Pakistan after the arrest of PTI Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan from the Islamabad High Court's premises in the Al-Qadir Trust case earlier today.
In its report, the organization also noted that “total internet shutdowns have been observed in some regions”.
“Real-time network data show the disruption in effect on some but not all mobile and fixed-line internet providers in Pakistan at the time of writing. The study is taken from an initial sample size of 60 measurements from 30 vantage points across Pakistan,” it added.
NetBlocks recommends use of VPN to bypass government orders
According to the report, a possible solution to the disruption is to use a virtual private network (VPN), which can bypass "government internet censorship measures".
“Metrics are consistent with an intentional disruption to service applied centrally at Pakistan’s national internet backbone."
“NetBlocks recommends against the use of network disruptions and social media restrictions to limit political speech, given their disproportionate impact to fundamental rights including freedom of expression and freedom assembly,” the organisation said.
