KARACHI: Social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter, were unblocked in Pakistan Sunday night, hours after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) ordered their restoration.

TV news channels and social networking sites were suspended in Pakistan at the behest of the government on Saturday. The suspension of broadcast and social media came shortly after the authorities cracked down on the ongoing sit-in in Islamabad.

Access to the social networking websites was restored by cellular services provider Ufone, Warid, Zong and Telenor, and several other fixed-line connections at the time of filing of this report.

The websites are expected to be restored on other service providers as well over the next couple of hours.

On Saturday, a protester was killed while over 250 people including 90 policemen and FC personnel, as protests, took a violent turn in the capital. Around 8,000 security officials took part in the operation aimed at dispersing the protesters with the help of tear gas and water cannons.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) restored news channels across the country on Sunday evening — a day after it had ordered cable operators to take all news channels off air.

PEMRA, prior to its decision to take news channels off air, had directed media houses to ensure the security of their staff while the tense security situation persisted across the country.

The regulatory body had earlier barred media from live coverage of the Islamabad operation under the Media Code of Conduct 2015.

In a press release, the Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) strongly condemned the unilateral closure of news channels by the government. The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) expressed concern over the sudden closure of television channels and their transmission

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