Social media unblocked: Facebook, Twitter restored in Pakistan
The social media platforms have been unblocked in some areas of the country after temporary outage
(Web Desk) – Social media platforms have finally been unblocked in Pakistan after temporary outage since the countrywide protests against Faizabad sit-in operation.
Websites of the two social media giants, Facebook and Twitter, were made inaccessible by the authorities during Friday afternoon. The sites remained blocked for more than 24 hours.
According to sources, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) issued the orders to restore the access of social media websites in the all big and small cities. While the websites of Facebook and Twitter are easy to access with the restoration, video-streaming site YouTube is still experiencing outage.
The social media platforms are not completely unblocked in all areas and it is likely that the service will soon be restored in full with the passage of time.
The social media outage occurred after the operation against Faizabad sit-in in which Sunni Tehreek and Tehreek-e-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah devotees demanded the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid over the alleged exclusion of blasphemy clause from the election laws. The sit-in at Faizabad intersection lasted for about three weeks despite the Islamabad High Court orders.
The Ministry of Interior implemented the IHC orders after delay and carried out the security operation with the help of police, Rangers and FC personnel. The ministry also summoned 111 Brigade during late Friday night under Article 245 of the Constitution.
Also, the media watchdog PEMRA has issued orders to restore the coverage of TV channels which was compromised over the similar concerns of operation coverage.
