Pakistan’s Interior Ministry ordered the Pakistan Telecom Authority to ban social media apps across the country.
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Pakistan has banned social media across the country with immediate effect from 11 am to 3 pm on Friday. This temporary ban was put on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram in view of the ongoing Islamic protests in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s interior ministry ordered the Pakistan Telecom Authority to ban the entire country with immediate effect. This means that people living in Pakistan could not access mobile data on any device, including smartphones or laptops, or social media through broadband or Wi-Fi connections.
Why the app was banned
Amid the ongoing chaos in Pakistan, the government was expected to witness widespread violence across the country after Friday prayers. There was scope for right-wing extremists in Pakistan to carry out these protests across the country, in which case the government believed that access to social media would help them organize the protests in an effective manner.
Although Internet users in Pakistan could not use social media apps, they were able to open government websites, school and university websites, and other informational websites on the Internet.
Even after the ban, users were able to use social media
As the government imposed a temporary ban, a swarm of Pakistani Internet users used VPNs to check if the banned platforms were still working. Many users found that it was possible to access the application. On Twitter, many Pakistani internet users have posted that they can access all banned websites using social media and this is a major problem for the government which is facing massive protests in major cities of Pakistan over its protests. Trying to curb the Internet to see the major impact.
So far, these apps have been banned in Pakistan
Pakistan’s telecom regulator PTA had already banned the popular Chinese short video app Ticketock. The ban was imposed on the app due to complaints received about ‘pornographic’ content available on it. Apart from this, five apps – Tinder, Tagged, Scout, Grindr and Porcupine – have been banned for removing dating services and moderating live streaming content according to the local. Apart from this, Bigo app is also banned in Pakistan.
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