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Published 02 Mar, 2024 05:30pm

X services disrupted in Pakistan for two weeks after elections

Partial disruption to the services of social media platform X passed the two-week mark in Pakistan on Saturday, with several experts urging the government to restore the services that went down more than a week after the polls.

The platform, formerly known as Twitter, was downed on Feb 16 night after former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha claimed that he tampered with the election results during the February 8 poll.

But days after the press conference, Chatha retracted his claims and told the Election Commission of Pakistan that he made his statement about rigging in elections at the behest of a leader belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

It’s not clear who blocked the services, but the inability to restore the internet was a violation of the Sindh High Court order.

“Any decision to restore access to the service will be deferred to an incoming government as per local media reports,” Netblocks, an independent internet observer, said in a post on X on Thursday.

Aaj News staff members in Karachi also faced difficulty in getting access to the service on browser and mobile.

It merits here to mention that mobile internet services were cut across the country on the election day, with the interior ministry citing security reasons.

The blackout, coupled with a long delay in issuing voting results, gave rise to allegations of rigging.

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