Major social media platforms experienced a disruption in Pakistan on Saturday evening as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) hosted a second virtual rally.
NetBlocks, a global watchdog that monitors cybersecurity and the governance of the Internet, confirmed the disruption to social media platforms in Pakistan.
In a post, it said that platforms including Facebook, 'X' (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram and YouTube were facing disruptions.
NetBlocks claimed the disruptions came as the PTI held a second virtual rally.
⚠️ 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 opposition leader Imran Khan's political party, PTI, launches its second virtual gathering pic.twitter.com/lwl24Kv5td
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 20, 2024
A similar outage of internet services was reported on December 17 when the PTI held its first virtual power show (political rally).
The PTI opted to hold the virtual rally after its members were denied permission or faced arrests and harassment while holding physical rallies in Pakistan.