Internet services will shut down in Pakistan from 12pm on Feb 7 till 7pm on Feb 9

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has checked this content and has established that it is false.

To arrive at this verdict, the iVerify Pakistan team checked the quality of access to internet services after 12pm on February 7, 2024, and found it to be functioning with no complaint recorded.

HOW IT STARTED

On February 6, 2024, a claim was circulating on social media platform X saying: “Internet services in Pakistan will be suspended from February 7, 12pm till February 9, 7pm. During this time, call services will also be suspended in many areas, said PTA sources”.

The post gained over 16,000 views.

The same claim was shared by another account, which appeared to be a pro-PTI account based on the past posts, gaining more than 4,000 views.

The same claim was also shared by many X users here, here and other places.

The claim was also circulated on Facebook here, here, here, here and here.

The claim was also shared to TikTok here and here, with 26,000 and 194,000 views, respectively.

METHODOLOGY

The iVerify Pakistan team sought to determine the veracity of the claim since it coincided very close to the general elections scheduled for Feb 8 and in the wake of wider persistent rumours and concerns about the quality of internet access on polling day.

To investigate the claim, the iVerify team checked the outage-tracking website Downdetector.com at 3:22pm to see if any users had registered complaints about the unavailability of various platforms.

However, the team did not find any complaints.

The team checked the status of the social media platform WhatsApp on the tracking website and found no disturbance registered by users.

Similarly, no disturbance was found on platform X.

Checking the access to Instagram found nothing.

The same was the case for Google, Facebook and TikTok with no disturbance in access reported on Downdetector.

The iVerify Pakistan team also inspected social media to check users complaining about any internet disruptions or outages but found nothing.

Furthermore, the team, via Dawn reporter Irfan Sadozai, contacted a Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) spokesperson who said, on condition of anonymity, that “the internet will not be shut down on election day.”

He further said, “As of now, the government has not issued any instructions to PTA regarding an internet shutdown and PTA assures users that internet services will be available on election day” and it would “function without interruption”.

As of 6:14pm till the filing of this report, there were no complaints witnessed about internet disruptions.

“None so far,” said Dawn.com Managing Editor Abdul Sattar Abbasi, confirming the same.

BACKGROUND

The claim came amid widespread concerns from civil society and international organisations regarding unhindered access to the internet in the country leading up to the elections and on polling day.

On Feb 5, interim Information Minister Murtaza Solangi had ruled out the possibility of an internet shutdown on polling day, saying local administrations had the authority to make such a decision in light of the law and order situation and no such situation had so far been reported.

However, caretaker Interior Minister Gohar Ejaz on Feb 6 had indicated the possibility of an internet shutdown in areas with security issues.

CONCLUSION

The iVerify Pakistan team has determined that the claim regarding the internet shutdown is false.

No complaints were registered on Feb 7 after 12pm as of the filing of this report and nor were any internet disruptions reported or experienced.

Evidence and References

Downdetector website:
https://downdetector.pk/