South Asia
After Twitter halts in Pakistan for hours on Sunday, digital rights group demands answer from govt
The group tweeted: "We call upon the government to issue an official statement on the matter, clarifying whether Twitter was blocked, & if it was, on what grounds."
We call upon the government to issue an official statement on the matter, clarifying whether Twitter was blocked, & if it was, on what grounds. 7/
— Media Matters for Democracy (@mmfd_Pak) May 18, 2020
The netizens complained that Twitter was down in the country on Sunday.
This is concerning. @PTAofficialpk should confirm blocking of Twitter in Pakistan on Sunday May 17, 2020; & cabinet should take notice of this outage of Twitter services for Pakistani citizens @ShireenMazari1 @shiblifaraz @MoitOfficial such online censorship is unacceptable. https://t.co/d30WHrwOwq
— Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) May 17, 2020
Usama Khilji, director of Bolo Bhi, also tweeted on the matter and said: "This is concerning. @PTAofficialpkshould confirm blocking of Twitter in Pakistan on Sunday May 17, 2020; & cabinet should take notice of this outage of Twitter services for Pakistani citizens @ShireenMazari1 @shiblifaraz @MoitOfficial such online censorship is unacceptable."
Twitter on Sunday said the disruption to services in the region was not caused from their end.
In a report released on Monday, internet blockage observatory NetBlocks in partnership with the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) confirmed that Twitter, Periscope and Zoom were restricted on multiple internet providers in Pakistan on Sunday evening, commencing approximately from 10.30 pm and lasting over an hour, reports Dawn News.
