The United States has called on Pakistan to respect free speech and restore the country’s internet.
Washington:
The U.S. State Department on Wednesday condemned Pakistan’s internet shutdowns, including restrictions on social media platforms, and urged the Pakistani government to lift such restrictions.
Internet surveillance advocates point to outages and restrictions in Pakistan following protests over election irregularities.
“We are concerned about any reports of restrictions on freedom of expression and association in Pakistan, including partial or total government shutdowns of the internet and certainly of social media platforms,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday.
Miller said Washington called on Pakistan to respect free speech and “restore access to any restricted social media, including Twitter.” He said U.S. concerns had been communicated to Pakistan through official channels.
Netblocks The global internet monitor agency cited examples of restrictions on Wednesday. Netblocks said: “Indicators show that X/Twitter remains largely restricted in Pakistan after the past four days; the platform was restricted on Saturday after information related to election fraud was circulated.”
Pakistani voters went to the polls earlier this month amid accusations of fraud due to mobile internet shutdowns on election day and unusual delays in results.
After the election, the United States, Britain and the European Union each expressed concerns about Pakistan’s electoral process.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
