According to a research by Surfshark, a virtual private network business with its headquarters in Lithuania, a half-year analysis of internet shutdown based on the Internet Shutdown Tracker, Pakistan has implemented three of the 42 new limitations throughout the globe. Following Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9, these internet censorship measures were put in place.

According to the research, Pakistani authorities at the time imposed limits on users’ access to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. For several days later, Pakistan also experienced a number of brief cellphone network interruptions.

Facebook continues to be subject to restrictions in the first half of 2023. According to a report cited by Dawn, Facebook was prohibited in Ethiopia, Guinea, Senegal, Pakistan, and Suriname. There is a history of internet censorship in each of these countries.

There were limitations on YouTube, Instagram, and Telegram in four nations. In three nations, there were limitations on Twitter and WhatsApp. In the early half of the year, TikTok was limited in Ethiopia. However, according to a report cited by Dawn, the US became the seventh country to outlaw TikTok.

In comparison to the same period in 2022, there was a 31% decrease in new internet disruption in the first half of 2023, the report said. However, there are now 14 rather than 13, countries implementing restrictions.

According to a research quoted by Dawn, Asia accounted for 71% of all new occurrences of internet outages worldwide. 2.35 billion people are thought to have experienced internet filtering this year, according to Surfshark.

According to a research published earlier in May, Pakistan would continue to rank among the poorest countries in the world for internet access and digital governance in 2022, according to Dawn.

According to the news source, the paper, titled “Pakistan’s Internet Landscape 2022,” was published by the human rights and advocacy group Bytes For All and in-depth examined the complex interplay between human rights and information and communication technologies.

The research claims that Pakistan has improved its general governance and access to the internet. According to Dawn, the nation continued to rank among the lowest achievers.

According to the research, “Pakistan made some progress in terms of internet access and general governance, but in the context of the world, the country continues to rank among the worst performers, even within just Asia,” according to Dawn.

According to the survey, despite an increase in internet usage, 15% of people still don’t have access to mobile or telecom services or the internet. The survey claims that the rest of the population had poor speeds and inconsistent service.