Internet users across the country on Sunday reported experiencing sluggish internet services just before a “virtual jalsa (meeting)” organized by the political party led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
A Pakistani journalist shared on social media that he encountered difficulties accessing Twitter, X, and other social media platforms. He inquired, “Overall, internet seems slow as well. Anyone else in Pakistan facing the same?”
Imran Khan’s PTI orchestrated the inaugural virtual meeting, deemed a historic event in Pakistan, scheduled for 9 pm on Sunday. A PTI post encouraged people to “be a part of history by joining it on 17th December at 9 pm and send a message to the world that the nation of Pakistan stands firm with its leader Imran Khan!” Social media users noted the slowdown in internet services just before this significant meeting.
Several individuals responded on X, confirming they were encountering similar issues. Some reported that enabling a VPN resolved the internet speed problem for them.
Few others alleged a deliberate internet shutdown by the “fascist regime” ahead of the “first-ever virtual jalsa” organised by Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday.
“Ahead of PTI’s first ever Virtual Rally #PTIVirtualJalsa…The fascist regime in #Pakistan have slowed/shut down internet,” a social media user claimed. She also shared screenshots from Downdetector showing outages reported on X.
An X user said, “Internet in Pakistan is not working atm, I’m tweeting this with VPN. They are now afraid of this jalsa WOW. Make sure that this message is spread even before starting the show. I have just made this video. Share this as much as you can before virtual jalsa.”
“In Pakistan, there are limitations imposed on internet access and the use of social media applications. Could you please confirm this information?,” another social media user reacted.
“Internet is down. Twitter is down. Please download superVPN to get it running…Come and lets break the internet today pakistan. ????????❤️????,” a user posted on Sunday evening.
As his political party hosts a virtual meeting, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been in jail since he was convicted and sentenced to three years on corruption charges on August 5, 2023.
Meanwhile, the schedule for Pakistan’s general elections on February 8 was issued this month, hours after the Supreme Court of Pakistan quashed a lower court’s decision which could have delayed the much-awaited polls.
