Twitter Blocked in Pakistan for One Day [Updated]

Twitter LogoTwitter, a famous microblogging website, has been blocked in Pakistan since morning. Action has been taken on direct orders from Raja Parvez Ashraf, Minister for Information and Technology, our sources tell us. Though it is unclear if the ban is temporary or permanent in nature.

ProPakistani users are already reporting that Twitter isn’t accessible on almost every ISP in Pakistan.

It merits mentioning here that Twitter is still accessible in Pakistan through proxy websites and third party applications.

According to reliable sources, Mr. Ashraf directed for stern action against websites that are directly or indirectly publishing blasphemous content.

According to reports that we have got so far, PTA contacted Facebook and Twitter to them to restrict the access to the pages that were showcasing the blasphemous content but Twitter didn’t oblige.

PTA is of the view that it constantly asked these websites to restrict these pages in Pakistan until they threatened that if even one page reached viewers in Pakistan both websites will be banned.

We are awaiting for an official stance and more details on the incident. We will update this story when and if we get any updates (We have updated, check below for more).

Industry sources say that Facebook is under threat as well, however, blockade of Facebook isn’t sanctioned so far.

The Blasphemous contest that encourages drawings of Holy Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) started in May 2010. These contests, that happen every year now, have cause agitation in many Muslim countries especially in Pakistan.

More details to follow.

Update:

We have got the confirmation that decision for blocking Twitter was taken yesterday on account of Draw Mohammad Day, during a meeting held at Ministry of Information Technology and chaired by Raja Parvez Ashraf, Federal Minister for Information and Technology. Meeting was attended by MoIT members, PTA and other concerned stake holders.

A source who is directly aware of the meeting told ProPakistani that it was decided that Twitter will remain blocked on May 20th, 2012 to avoid any possible access of blasphemous content to Pakistani internet users.

We are told that this blockade is temporary and it is likely that Twitter will be made available to internet users in Pakistan later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Internet users in Pakistan are voicing against the blockade of Twitter, who feel that they even didn’t remember that May 20th was a Draw Mohammad Day. They opine that by blocking Twitter the government is kind of promoting something that wasn’t even in their minds.

Update: 

Access to Twitter Restored in Pakistan

Tech and telecom reporter for over 15 years


  • Kya musibat hai yaar
    Blocking twitter is not a solution
    Now where are we suppose to stay connected with the world…. N shitty calls raza perviaz has noidea what twitter is

  • Great effort if this is true.
    My twitter is still working.
    Everythng that’s against our islam should be ban in pakistan
    if Our EemAan is alive.
    May god bless us all.

    • Yeah and we should also BAN all kinds of books from Pakistan, because there are blasphemous books available too in other parts of the world that we don’t know about.
      This is digital age you idiot, you can’t just block anything. It does nothing good.

    • hey Mr Tayyab Malik, please take ur hands off from ur laptop or keyboard because it is made by using Chinese products, and they are non Muslims which means HARAAM!!! Please turn off ur AC or Fan because it also made by using Chinese parts, which is also HARAAM!! And dont even think about holding ur cell phone because OMG it is also made by kaafirs, OMG HARAAM!! And m guessing u drive a car as well, please stop doing it beacuse it has Japanese parts in it, its also HARAAM!! OMG OMG OMG start living on a footpath beacuse ur house also has some products that are made by non Muslims, and sleep on a footpath, oh wait u cant because the footpath was made by using Chinese or Japanese machinery, and WTH why are u wearing clothes man?? They are also made by non Muslims, HARAAM HARAAM HARAAM!!! Jeez, get a life man, no wonder we Pakistanis are labeled as backward just because morons like u are still here!! :@

      • sumair bhai, apky bap ko koi bura bhala kahy to kia ap bardasht kro gy na k apky nabi saw. ko koi kahay???
        non muslims ka boycott nai krskty, mgr jo justakh hai uska to krskty hain!!!

    • What I understood so far, one-day ban is not more than a symbolic protest from Pakistan on no proper reply or action taken by Tweeter on Pakistan’s request to consider such hatred activities going on their platform. From this prospective I believe this must have signaled the sensitivity of the issue at some levels across the world.

      On other hand, in general such bans do have effect at geo-political and economic levels. For instance such news do result sudden decrease in company share-value in stock-exchanges and company’s repute among investing lobbies and global marketing agencies etc.

      No business-man can afford bad-repute to his company and/or product. And here the real question rises that why such successful business giants running Tweeter and Facebook intestinally taking such risk to their business…??

      • — For instance such news do result sudden decrease in company share-value in stock-exchanges and company’s repute among investing lobbies and global marketing agencies etc.

        They’re not. How many users on Twitter are from Pakistan? very very few.

  • The ProPakiatani team would be really happy seeing that you guys were such strong supporters of a URL filtering system.

  • Twitter is working via flipboard thank god

    And mr tayyab if you are so concerned with the religion then you should be living in pakistan, islam clearly says interest is war against Allah yet our entire society is involved in i

  • WTF! vry bad! ucan block fb but not TWITTER we hve real id’s there we can chat with real persons!! plz plz i beg un block it!

  • The really stupid thing is you cannot post pictures on twitter. You have to post them on twitpic or yfrog or imgur.

    AND THOSE SITES ARE NOT BLOCKED.

  • Oh, also, did anyone here read or hear about some blasphemy event today? On CNN, or Al Jazeera or BBC or even Fox? Did you see any discussion of any event on any website before today?

  • Thats good.Twitter nai tha to kia tha.Everything has solution.WE can think of alternatives.

  • Raja Pervaiz Ashraf aka Raja Rental done another blunder …. Twitter banned in Pakistan on direct orders of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf

  • A campaign started against NATO supplies on Twitter which resulted in Blocking the social media website.

  • Hahah PTI Trolls are now talking of internet liberalism CUNT … Block ni karain tou aur kia karain .

  • HOW does blocking twitter solve anything? I mean,where the heck is the practicality of this stupid move? -.-
    Lets just go back to the old ages,lets just ban everything. ^_^

  • islam ki baat hai to ban thik hai par pehle porn sites to ban karo 2nd raja rental ab kickbacks lega fb or twitter se k pakistan main dhanda karna hai to hafta dena hoga bole to buisness protection money. hehe

    • > islam ki baat hai to ban thik ha

      Really?? Nearly 100% of Pakistanis can no longer use Twitter to spread Islam. Nearly 0% of Pakistanis were planning on using Twitter for blasphemy.

      So tell me, Is the ban okay? Because from here it looks like a BAN ON DAWAH.

  • Thanks for reminding me that when was the day :P

    I also know what things can corrupt me and whats not so stop trying to spoon feed me. If i see something can corrupt my emaan *some cartoon pictures won’t do it* i will not see it myself. Don’t decide it for me.

    Thanks.

  • raja rental zalil k rawalpindi gujar khan chakwal road par 2 palace hain itne bade jese ksa ka koi prince rehta hai sab haram ki kamai

  • RT @Aaqil RT @AnjumKiani: Mobile users : Use twitter through Opera Mini. It is working. via @AishaRishi #twiiterban #Pakistan

  • I am VERY SURPRISED to see that propakistani is letting people post comments with ways to get around the block, when just a few months ago when there was the discussion of the local firewall solution, admin CLEARLY stated that he would not post or allow comments on ways to bypass the firewall.

  • Ideally twitter shouldn’t have been blocked, this is to give Pakistanis a chance to counter Draw Muhammad Day propaganda by sharing +ve things about our prophet. Lekin agar block ho gaya hay tou hum apne Rasool ki khatir bardasht kar len gay, twitter block hone se dunya end nai ho jaye gi. fb and twitter are two faced douchebags anyways. If they can block online Kashmiri dissidents group in India (on indian government’s request) why can’t they block blasphemous content in Pakistan?

  • @Admin my comment is pulled back to pending mode but it was for educational purpose and to show Authorities that they should move off all the possibilities of linking towards blocked material.

  • Yeah Acha to hai.
    Lekyn apne mubashir luqman ka program nhe dekha! jisme quran gutter aur nalon men pra hua tha.
    Kya ham ne koi koshish ya jalus nikala against ourselves or kia wo companies ban huen jo kharab kagaz Quran Pak bana rahin the.
    Moral.
    Dosra kare to kafir, ham karen to momin
    :)

  • I simply want to share my personal experience with all people here. I used to waste atleast an hour a day on FaceBook and Twitter. Now, I donot use Twitter or FaceBook anymore because of such issues. Now I am better utilizing the time which I used to waste on these socalled social networking websites. I give more time to my family, friends, etc. and my personal life has become more happy and productive.

      • Dear Shahid Saleem Sahib,

        1. Ofcourse this website propakistani, is the ONLY site which I regularly visit with the purpose of getting latest IT related information.

        2. My Holy Prophet (PBUH) is very very much important for me and I am proud to LOVE him like every true muslim. Whenever I find anything about him on this website it attracts my attention and I DO READ and REPLY to such blog comments. If it is a wastage of time then I am proud to do so…

  • A.o.A
    I dont read blogs as hobby but heard that twitter was banned and in google got this site. I like it very much so i appreciate the blogger for posting his contents with such quick updates.
    Every one has his own opinion so i will not criticise others but in my opinion, we should completely stop using those social networks.
    When for the first time facebook provided the platform for posting the cartoons, i stopped using that, then i stopped using youtube. Now i have about 4 twitter accounts zambeel, moneyflora and pk_rack i have good followers and i am getting good visitors via the first account but i am going to deactivate em all coz as a Muslim, Islam and its respect should be our first priority. We shouldnt care that we will lose connections with forgien friends as will feel a bit shy if we dont use facebook (some people think that having a fb id is modernship.) if a person is abusing you and another person gives a loudspeaker to him then what will be your response? You will be angered on the second man more than the first coz he is helping him.
    As far as i know, the shit day which they celebrate is like a slow poison, they are making it a habbit for us so that one day, no one will object it and at that day, our hearts will be empty of Eman.
    When “FIRghon” was announcing himself as god, he called his minister and asked for suggestions, he told him that wait, when i tell you, you should then announce.
    After that the minister went to bazar and peeled the skin of a live hen. The people beated him badly.
    At second day he did it again, again he was beated but a bit less at third day he was just abused. He did it for a month and at the end of month, the people gived him no attention.
    Then he went to firghon and told him to announce now. He announced and no one objected that.
    Same is the case here. Last year, people were protesting, newspaper were full of news regarding it, this year only few people got hurted who tried to awake our deep sleeping emaan, next year may be the number decrease and at the end (Allah may at least take me before seeing such era) may be Muslims see there cartoons for fun.
    In last sorry for my bad english (coz my father was not from england) and sorry if some one get hurted or felt uneasy with my comment. W.SALAM


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