Last week, Pakistan shut down its internet services in response to nationwide protests against the arrest and charging of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The shutdowns are widely seen as an attempt to suppress dissent by Pakistan’s powerful military establishment. However, activists have been able to evade the shutdowns through virtual private networks (VPNs). This article from 2021, explains how internet shutdowns work and why they are being used by authoritiarian regimes.
The shutdown began for journalist Shams Irfan on 16 October 2019. Irfan lives in Pampore, a town known for growing saffron and being near to Srinagar, the traditional summer capital of the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which is part of the wider Kashmir region. A few days before, there had been a gun battle between Kashmiri rebels and Indian security forces in which two rebels died, he says. “As it is a norm now, if there is a gunfight in any area, the first thing that is shut is the internet.” Usually, service is fully restored in around three days, but this time that did not happen.
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