Journalists waiting for the results of the election to be announced at the premises of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). February 8, 2024. Image by Ramna Saeed. Used with permission. Following the recent elections in Pakistan, the country is grappling with a critical situation as the establishment of a new government is mired in uncertainty. Over two weeks after the elections on February 8, it seems unlikely that the caretaker government will fulfil its promise of a smooth handover given the current political landscape. However, amid this political turmoil, an effort to stifle the voices of the people of the country has emerged in the form of a ban on X (formerly Twitter) and VPN services again. Earlier, on election day, the internet was shut down for a couple days causing chaos in the country. After the elections, Pakistan was supposed to continue with a new government. However, things have not unfolded as anticipated, given that no single political party has secured a clear majority. Currently, political parties are engaged in negotiations with each other to determine who will form alliances to govern the country. This uncertainty has dampened people's hopes regarding Pakistan's future trajectory. Amidst the uncertainties due to the delayed results and no clear winner, the social media platform X has been inaccessible again since February 17. On the same day, Liaqat Ali Chattha, commissioner of Rawalpindi, announced his involvement in rigging that occurred during the general elections, an allegation that was refuted by the sitting Chief Justice of Pakistan. Later, Chattha retracted his statements, claiming that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had offered him a ‘lucrative position’ in exchange for making rigging allegations. The ban could be connected to this. Another speculation is that the ban was imposed after the PTI protested against the alleged rigging and when PTI-backed National Assembly seat aspirant Salman Akram Raja was briefly detained by the police. As on February 24, X had been inaccessible for a week. The shutdown did not deter people from using the platform; instead, they resorted to accessing X through Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to express themselves and condemn the caretaker setup in the country. However, shortly afterward, several VPNs stopped working as well. Most popular VPNs appear to be blocked in Pakistan, with variance across varied ISPs. Signifies state & @PTAofficialpk efforts to solidify censorship & move Pakistan towards the Chinese model of firewall, despite liberal constitutional rights. Higher judiciary must step in. https://t.co/GxDrY1VUGu — Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) February 23, 2024 The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan condemned the shutdown: Disrupting or shutting down the internet or any social media platforms bleed online businesses and commerce and adds to the misery of an already fragile and struggling economy. It also infringes on people's right to democratic decision making, information and expression. This… — Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) February 19, 2024 Usama Khilji, a digital rights activist, asked the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) and Umar Saif, the IT Minister, to respond on why VPNs were being blocked too: Nearly 24 hours since Twitter/ X was blocked in Pakistan, remains inaccessible except via select VPNs. Most users complaining their VPNs are also blocked, & Internet is slow. Not a word from @PTAofficialpk or @umarsaif whose job is to ensure seamless internet access. Shameful. — Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) February 18, 2024 Javeria Siddiqui, a journalist, speaks about the internet being slow: X formerly Twitter is blocked in Pakistan since the weekend, and mostly ppl are using it via vpn. Now from today we are experiencing slow Internet too. — Javeria Siddique (@javerias) February 20, 2024 Users like digital media marketer Anas Tipu suggested working VPNs for others to use: Twitter still down in Pakistan. 1.1.1.1 by cloudflare is the best vpn, and its free. — Anas Tipu (@teepusahab) February 19, 2024 Seerat Khan, a digital rights activist, asks the PTA how these blatant violations are justified: It's day 4 and we still can't access X/Twitter without a selected few VPNs. How is there no accountability around this? How are these blatant violations justified? @PTAofficialpk — Seerat Khan (@seeratkhan92) February 20, 2024 On February 21, during a hearing against the internet shutdowns, Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi of the Sindh High Court criticized the PTA and the Ministry of Interior and IT for the repeated shutdowns and throttling of internet services. He questioned when the internet would be fully restored.