Pakistan facing slow internet ahead of ‘virtual jalsa’ organised by Imran Khan’s party? Here’s what netizens say

Several people complained about slow internet services in Pakistan on Sunday evening, ahead of a “virtual jalsa (meeting)” organised by the political party of the country’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

A Pakistani journalist took to social media to inform that he was facing “trouble accessing Twitter/X and other social media platforms. “Overall internet seems slow as well. Anyone else in Pakistan facing the same?”, he asked.

Tens of people responded to his post on X, saying that they were facing a similar situation. Some people said the internet was working fine for them after turning on the VPN.

Few others alleged a deliberate internet shutdown by the “fascist regime” ahead of the “first-ever virtual jalsa” organised by Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday.

“Ahead of PTI’s first ever Virtual Rally #PTIVirtualJalsa…The fascist regime in #Pakistan have slowed/shut down internet,” a social media user claimed. She also shared screenshots from Downdetector showing outages reported on X.

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Imran Khan’s PTI organised the first virtual meeting “in the history of Pakistan” at 9 pm on Sunday. “Be a part of history by joining it on 17th December at 9 pm and send a message to the world that the nation of Pakistan stands firm with its leader Imran Khan!,” a post by PTI read. The slow down in the internet services was report just ahead of this meeting, according to social media users.

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An X user said, “Internet in Pakistan is not working atm, I’m tweeting this with VPN. They are now afraid of this jalsa WOW. Make sure that this message is spread even before starting the show. I have just made this video. Share this as much as you can before virtual jalsa.”

“In Pakistan, there are limitations imposed on internet access and the use of social media applications. Could you please confirm this information?,” another social media user reacted.

“Internet is down. Twitter is down. Please download superVPN to get it running…Come and lets break the internet today pakistan. 🇵🇰❤️🎊,” a user posted on Sunday evening.

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As his political party hosts a virtual meeting, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been in jail since he was convicted and sentenced to three years on corruption charges on August 5, 2023.

Meanwhile, the schedule for Pakistan’s general elections on February 8 was issued this month, hours after the Supreme Court of Pakistan quashed a lower court’s decision which could have delayed the much-awaited polls.