Mobile internet services were suspended across Pakistan for Thursday's election day, a move denounced as
"fundamentally undemocratic"
by an internet governance watchdog.
Pakistan's Interior Ministry announced that mobile services were
"temporarily suspended"
on Thursday for security reasons, a day after the twin attacks by the Islamic State (IS) group killed 28 people in Balochistan province. (South West).
“Security measures are essential to maintain law and order and to deal with any potential threats
,” a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
Netblocks, an organization that monitors cybersecurity and internet governance, indicated that its data showed
“a disruption of the mobile Internet”
which
“corroborates”
the information given by many users reporting outages.
“The current internet shutdown is among the most rigorous and extensive we have seen in any country
,” Alp Toker, director of Netblocks, told AFP.
“(This) practice is fundamentally undemocratic, and is known to hinder the work of independent election observers and to cause irregularities in the electoral process
,” he added.
The caretaker government had repeatedly affirmed that there would be no interruption of mobile phone services on polling day.
“This is an attack on the democratic rights of Pakistanis
,” said Nighat Dad, who heads the digital rights NGO Digital Rights Foundation.
“Cutting off cell phone services is not a solution to national security concerns
,” she stressed.
“If you cut off access to information, you create more chaos
. ”
According to her, this measure also leaves room for more disinformation, particularly on possible unconfirmed attacks.
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called for the restoration of mobile services and announced that his party would challenge the government's decision in court.
Voters rely on texting to confirm which polling station they are registered at.
“Possible electoral impact of the PTI”
“Our system is not dependent on the internet; blocking the internet will not affect us
,” Sikandar Sultan Raja, the head of the Electoral Commission, told AFP, while recognizing that the government had assured him until the last moment that this would not happen.
“It’s an inauspicious start to the election.
This decision is in violation of multiple (court) decisions since 2018
,” observed on X Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington.
The fairness of the vote was questioned in advance due to the imprisonment of popular former Prime Minister Imran Khan and the repression suffered by his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Observers believe that the army supports Nawaz Sharif, 74, who could thus lead the country for the fourth time.
“It is clear, seeing the measures taken as soon as the polling stations opened, that those in power continue to be concerned about the possible electoral impact of the PTI
,” said Michael Kugelman.
Pakistani authorities regularly cut mobile services during major demonstrations or religious festivals and when sectarian tensions increase, to prevent possible attackers from communicating with each other.
Access to the internet and social media was jammed several times during the campaign, when the PTI tried to hold meetings online.
The government then cited
“technical difficulties”
.
This will have consequences
“on the work that our activists do on the ground to get people to the polling stations
,” Raoof Hasan, information manager for the PTI, admitted to AFP.