Govt Shuts Down Social Media Apps Across Pakistan

In a significant development in the backdrop of ongoing countrywide protests, the federal government has decided to block all social media platforms in the country from 11 AM-3 PM.

The decision was taken on the recommendation of the Interior Ministry. As per sources, the government is preparing for a forceful crackdown against violent protesters.

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PTA has issued a notification in this regard that says that the following services are going to be blocked from 1100 hrs – 1500 hrs today (16th Apr 2021) on the orders of the federal government.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• WhatsApp
• YouTube
• TikTok
• Telegram

When approached, telecommunication companies told ProPakistani that they have clear instructions from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block all CDN traffic today from 11 AM to 3 PM to control social media traffic due to the protests.

To comply with the order, we will have to shut down Akamai/Facebook/Google. This will cause all traffic to come via our internet gateways which will choke our internet links and will cause severe internet degradation. Many other Google services including Meet will be affected too.

There is no assurance when the companies will get permission for resumption of services, they added.

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Earlier on Thursday, the Home Department Punjab had suspended cellular and internet services in Lahore due to these protests, causing difficulties for hundreds of thousands of consumers.

The development came a day after the government blacklisted Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) as a terrorist organization under 11B (1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Earlier on Wednesday, Minister for Interior Affairs, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, had announced the blockage of cellular and internet coverage in areas affected by TLP protests.

Since then, several areas of all major cities, including Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Islamabad have faced network outages.

It is a developing story and will be updated accordingly.