According to a recent research from VPN and cyber security service Surfshark, Pakistan has been one of the worst countries in terms of internet limitations throughout the first half of 2023.
Half a year later, Pakistan was responsible for three of the world’s 42 newly implemented internet bans. As documented by the Internet Shutdown Tracker, these measures were taken after the May 9 arrest of the country’s former prime minister, Imran Khan.
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube were all restricted in the country during this time. For several days after the arrest, there were numerous brief disruptions to cellphone networks around the country.
Pakistan had many internet shutdowns
The Surfshark analysis found that during the first half of 2023, Pakistan had the third-highest number of internet restrictions, behind only Iran and India. Historically, most of these blackouts have happened throughout Asia.
There were 14 separate instances of internet outages during this time period, with 13 of them occurring in Iran. Everything happened on Friday during protests against the Zahedan massacre.
The second-highest number of confirmed cases was in India, with nine. Most of these incidents occurred during protests.
Fascinatingly, the report mentions two other incidents of internet shutdowns in ‘Jammu and Kashmir,’ both of which were presumably ordered by the Indian government. If these are counted, India would have had 11 separate internet blackouts in the past six months.
Thirty out of the fifty-one new disturbances were sparked by popular discontent over social and political problems. The importance of the internet as the primary medium for the dissemination of life-saving information during times of civil unrest is further highlighted by the results of this study.
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