X Remains Restricted in Pakistan After 80 Days

X, formerly Twitter remains suspended across Pakistan after 80 days.

The microblogging platform was blocked soon after the then Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha on 17-Feb-2024, accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa of engaging in ‘rigging,’ a charge refuted by both the electoral watchdog and the Chief Justice.

However, Several internet users in Pakistan have turned to virtual private networks to access the platform X, Nord Security, a VPN provider in Pakistan, told Forbes that search interest in its products doubled on Sunday and reached four times its usual traffic for the week on Feb 17.

ExpressVPN said traffic to its website from Pakistan spiked 67% within the first 24 hours of the disruption. It increased to 80% in the first four days since the restriction on X.

On March 5, the Islamabad High Court issued notices to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Ministry of Information on a petition challenging the suspension of social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

The prolonged disruption of X has raised widespread concern despite the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting previously having said that the social media platform was working and people were regularly posting their tweets on it.