Services of social media platform X disrupted in Pak for third day

Services of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, remained disrupted for the third consecutive day in Pakistan on Monday, raising concerns over allegations of election rigging and escalating unrest in the country. According to reports from Downdetector, the most-affected areas include Karachi, Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Gujranwala. The disruption comes amidst allegations of vote manipulation and a high-level resignation, leading to public unrest and protests.

On Saturday, internet monitor Netblocks reported a nationwide 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 a senior election official.” This outage follows explosive allegations made by former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaqat Ali Chattha, who accused the Election Commission of Pakistan and Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa of involvement in rigging the elections. These claims were vehemently denied by the electoral watchdog and the top judge.

Chattha alleged that losing candidates were made to win through manipulation, and that the process to justify the manipulated results was still ongoing in an organized manner at some offices. The disruption in social media services has raised concerns about censorship and internet restrictions, with Netblocks stating that X had been restricted in Pakistan for 24 hours, the latest in a series of nation-scale internet censorship measures imposed by authorities in response to reports of election fraud.

The disruption of X services in Pakistan has sparked widespread concern and raised questions about the integrity of the recent general elections in the country. With allegations of election rigging and growing public unrest, the impact of the ongoing disruption on the political landscape of Pakistan remains to be seen. The authorities are yet to provide a statement or explanation regarding the disruption, leaving citizens and the international community in search of answers amid this period of uncertainty.