PTI holds virtual fundraising telethon

ISLAMABAD: Social media platforms being accessed from Pakistan experienced glitches on Sunday night, coinciding with a virtual event arranged by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The News tried to reach the official spokesperson of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and sent questions to ascertain the reasons behind the disruption but got no response till the filing of this report.

According to sources, the Web-Based Management System (WMS) was slowed down by the regulator on Sunday night in different parts of Pakistan, disrupting social media platforms including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and Instagram. The slow-down came right during the time the PTI had arranged its virtual meeting.

On Sunday evening, Netblocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and internet governance, posted on X: “Confirmed: Live metrics show a nation-scale disruption to social media platforms across Pakistan, including X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube; the incident comes as persecuted former PM Imran Khan’s party, PTI, launches its election fundraising telethon.”

According to Netblocks, “The incident is consistent with previous social media filtering events which have all been imposed during opposition party rallies or speeches by opposition leader Imran Khan.” Netblocks Director Alp Toker said that: “Such nation-scale social media targeting political activities is almost unprecedented at this scale -- Venezuela is one other country that has used similar measures to limit opposition speeches and rallies.”

Meanwhile, the PTI’s account on X claimed on Sunday night around 1am that “Rs100 million has been collected so far! This just shows how petty acts of aggression such as internet shutdown, can never stand in the face of the resolve of an enlightened, resilient nation!”

The PTI telethon started at 9pm PST and was continuing till the filing of this report. The party’s official account also stated that international media had “earlier reported on how the state authorities had slowed down internet & social media websites at the time of PTI’s Virtual Jalsa, which not only caused international embarrassment but also resulted in massive economic losses to the country”, adding that despite this both “the virtual jalsa and the fundraising telethon have been phenomenal successes, thanks to the millions of resilient, patriotic Pakistanis.”