'X' faces 24-hour restriction amid political turmoil

The popular microblogging site ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter, once again found itself in the crosshairs of restrictions lasting 24 hours in Pakistan, according to reports by NetBlocks on Sunday.

Users nationwide grappled with prolonged inaccessibility to the platform, marking yet another glitch in internet instability in the weeks leading up to, during, and after the hotly-contested February 8 national elections.

The social media platform became elusive for hundreds of users, facing intermittent issues for the second time in a day, with difficulties reported since Saturday.

According to NetBlocks, the metrics indicated that X/Twitter had been restricted in Pakistan for a continuous 24 hours, marking the lengthiest episode in a series of countrywide internet outages.

Earlier, Downdetector highlighted at least 16 reports of potential issues on X across the country around 4:45 pm, a number that escalated to 83 at a certain point. Real-time internet and social media outage monitoring services revealed that users attempting to access X were greeted with a disheartening message – "this site can't be reached."

Frustrated netizens voiced complaints about their inability to connect to X for hours on Saturday night.A day earlier 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”.

Moreover, the disruptions extended beyond X, with disruptions reported on other major platforms including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Google services, along with the internet service provider PTCL, last month.

The development followed Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha's accusation against the Election Commission of Pakistan and Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa of engaging in 'rigging,' a charge refuted by both the electoral watchdog and the Chief Justice.