Fact-check: Information minister's claim about X (Twitter) being accessible is false

X has remained blocked to users in Pakistan since February 17

By
Geo Fact-Check

Updated Friday Mar 15 2024

Pakistan’s newly-appointed information minister has alleged that the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, faced no restrictions and was accessible to online users in the country.

The claim is false and evidence-free.

Claim

On March 13 during a press conference, when the federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar was asked why X continues to remain suspended in Pakistan, Tarar rubbished the journalist’s question.

“Twitter [X] is working,” the minister claimed, “Tweets are being posted on Twitter too. If there is a [official] notification calling for the closure of [Twitter] then you can show it to me. We can discuss it.”

The media exchange was telecasted on all local public and private television channels.

Fact

The claim is inaccurate.

X has been inaccessible to users in Pakistan since February 17, say international and Pakistani internet watchdogs.

The Rome-based Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), a global network which documents internet censorship, told Geo Fact Check via email that X (Twitter) was “not accessible in Pakistan on multiple networks since February 17”.

Elizaveta Yachmeneva, the community coordinator at OONI, also shared the organisation’s latest measurements, which show that Pakistani users have been facing restrictions since Feb. 17 and that access to X has to date not been restored.

Metrics shared by the Rome-based Open Observatory of Network Interference which show that access to X (Twitter) has faced disruptions in Pakistan since Feb. 17.
Metrics shared by the Rome-based Open Observatory of Network Interference which show that access to X (Twitter) has faced disruptions in Pakistan since Feb. 17.

The same was confirmed by Bytes for All (B4A), an Islamabad-based research think tank, and Bolo Bhi, a Karachi-based civil society organisation advocating for digital rights.

“X is blocked in the country and can’t be accessed without Virtual Private Networks (VPNs),” B4A told Geo Fact Check via a written statement. It also shared the screenshot of its latest web connectivity test, which stated that X (Twitter) was blocked in the country.

A web connectivity test conducted by B4A on March 14 shows that X (Twitter) is blocked in the country.
A web connectivity test conducted by B4A on March 14 shows that X (Twitter) is blocked in the country.

While Bolo Bhi’s Farieha Aziz, also stated that X was not working without a VPN.

With additional reporting by Saman Amjad.

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