Services of X down for several Pakistani users on sixth straight day

Services of X, formerly called Twitter were down for several Pakistani users on the sixth straight day on Thursday, as the United States called on the South Asian country to lift restrictions.

Staffers at the Aaj News were unable to access the social media platform without using a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

The social media platform went down in Pakistan on Saturday evening when former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatta made electoral fraud claims.

At a press conference, Chatha stated he stepped down saying he made returning officers under him to change results for at least 13 MNA candidates in Rawalpindi Division.

The Rawalpindi commissioner also claimed that candidates who were losing the election were declared winners with a lead of 50,000 votes each.

The development comes as the United States called on Pakistan to lift restrictions on X after days of disruption following an election marred by fraud allegations.

“We are concerned by any report of restrictions on the exercise of the freedom of expression and association in Pakistan, including a partial or complete government-imposed internet shutdown,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

“We continue to call on Pakistan to respect freedom of expression and restore access to any social media that has been restricted including Twitter, now known as X,” he said.

On Wednesday, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTI) to immediately restore the internet services in the country.