Early 2024 crackdown on X, formerly Twitter, as well as the recent increasing restrictions on VPN services in Pakistan are raising many eyebrows۔ And frustrations of those people within the country who rely on such sites as a means of keeping abreast of the latest news, are legit.
As the 2024 elections in February, where every update counted, the Pakistani government used national security concerns as a reason to block X. That spurred countless users to bypass the restrictions with VPNs, the workaround which may not last long if the government moves to ban those too.
In this age of real-time information, blocking X, with all and sundry relying on it as the main news site, is a step backwards. Something that is not terribly necessary, like TikTok, could perhaps be justified while clamping down on a site like X during elections hard to rationalise.
For a country that proudly aspires to be a digital economy, Pakistan’s actions are sadly ironic with the march forward. What amounts to blocking X is effectively shutting the door to the world for Pakistanis, especially at a time when they most need it.
Do you know? Restrictions on VPN in Pakistan is for free and paid softwares
Many VPN providers, including VPN Unlimited, Cloudflare, and Tunnelbear, have even started to face restricted access; internet speed has gone to snail’s pace, which left many frustrated. The rumors of further restrictions by the telecommunications authority of Pakistan have yet again been making rounds, which has given an outburst among X users who have long been having a way around the ban.
Limited access is an issue about individual freedom but also hampers Pakistan’s already fragile tech and freelancing industries, which rely very much on uninterrupted connectivity.
The restrictions have people in Pakistan wondering, “how can a country dream to grow digitally justify that it holds its citizens back from global connectivity?” Every ban only brings into the equation digital isolation and regression for the Pakistanis, every restriction pushes the country further away from any sort of digital aspirations.
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