Just a day after interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar stated that all political parties were on an equal footing, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), founded by Imran Khan, claimed that its websites had been blocked in the country.
Dear @umarsaif, can you tell Pakistanis why the websites of country’s most popular political party is blocked by you?
You will not be in this position forever. Don’t act like God for your own sake. #RiggingAgainstPTI #PakistanUnderFascism
cc @TheEconomist @hrw @_FAFEN @Anfrel… pic.twitter.com/BCf70w8VZz
— Jibran Ilyas (@agentjay2009) January 25, 2024
The PTI, which has been criticizing the lack of a fair playing field leading up to the February 8 general elections, demanded an explanation from the government regarding the blockage of its websites. Earlier this month, the PTI suffered a setback when the Supreme Court invalidated the Peshawar High Court’s decision to strip the party of its electoral symbol “bat” due to alleged irregularities in its internal elections. Despite this, the PTI decided to field its candidates as independents in the upcoming polls.
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To assist its supporters, the PTI launched an online portal on its official website, insaf.pk, as well as a backup site, pticandidates.com, both of which it alleged had been blocked by authorities.
Expressing its concerns on X (formerly Twitter), the PTI tagged the official handles of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Interim Information Minister Murtaza Solangi, and interim IT minister Umar Saif, questioning the reasons behind the blockage of its websites.
Meanwhile, the PTI introduced a chatbot on Facebook Messenger to aid its supporters in finding electoral symbols allotted to party candidates contesting in the February 8 elections.
On January 24, the PTI’s official account on X announced that voters could discover the symbols allotted to PTI-affiliated candidates by sending a direct message to Imran Khan’s official Facebook page.
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The party utilized Facebook’s ‘Automated Responses’ feature to enable voters to learn about the electoral symbols of candidates running in their respective constituencies.
As the general elections drew nearer, various parts of the country experienced multiple internet disruptions, rendering social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, X, and Instagram inaccessible. The PTI attributed these disruptions to the caretaker government, linking them to its online activities.