Users across Pakistan faced difficulties in accessing the social media platform X on Monday, according to the outage tracking website Downdetector.com. The disruption occurred as platform owner Elon Musk claimed that a “massive cyberattack” was targeting the service. Despite the widespread reports of inaccessibility, it is important to note that X remains officially banned in Pakistan.
Downdetector recorded 65 reports from users in Pakistan at 3:02 pm, indicating possible issues with the platform. The number of complaints surged to 109 by 9:32 pm. The reports primarily originated from major cities, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi. Meanwhile, X was also experiencing intermittent outages in the United States, where thousands of users were unable to access the platform. Data from Downdetector showed that the number of outage reports had risen to approximately 26,579, after briefly decreasing. Earlier in the day, the number had peaked at 40,000. In the United Kingdom, more than 10,800 users also reported disruptions on X, according to the tracker.
“There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against X. We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved.”
A source from the internet infrastructure industry disclosed that X was struck by multiple waves of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, beginning around 9:45 UTC. The source, who requested anonymity due to not being authorized to speak publicly on the matter, explained that denial-of-service attacks work by overwhelming a targeted website with rogue traffic. While such attacks are not always sophisticated, they can cause major disruptions to online platforms.
At 7:17 pm, internet monitoring group NetBlocks also reported international outages on X, clarifying that the disruption was not linked to country-level internet restrictions or filtering. In Pakistan, X has remained banned since February 2024, marking over a year of inaccessibility. Government officials have indicated that there are no immediate plans to lift the ban. The platform, which was used by approximately 4.5 million people in Pakistan, was blocked shortly after the general elections in February 2024 while the caretaker government was in power.
At the time, X was widely used by Pakistani citizens to discuss allegations of election rigging. The final trigger for the ban appeared to be a press conference by former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Chattha, who accused Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and a former chief justice of facilitating election fraud. A PML-N leader from Punjab, speaking to Dawn, confirmed that there are currently no discussions about reversing the decision.
“The lifting of the ban on X is subject to control the PTI’s keyboard warriors’ onslaught against it on social media.”
Dawn reached out to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, but he declined to provide any timeframe for the restoration of X. However, despite the official ban, government ministries, including the Information Ministry, Prime Minister’s Office, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, continue to post statements and updates on the platform. Human rights organizations, journalists, and civil society groups have repeatedly called for the immediate restoration of X, arguing that its ban violates Article 19 of Pakistan’s Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech. They also contend that the restrictions contradict Pakistan’s commitments under international law.
In the months following the ban, both the government and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) initially denied blocking X. The first official admission came in March 2024, when the interior ministry informed the Sindh High Court that the platform had been blocked based on intelligence agency reports.
By April 2024, the ministry told the Islamabad High Court that X had failed to comply with government directives to prevent the “misuse of its platform.” The government justified the ban on the grounds of “upholding national security, maintaining public order, and preserving the integrity of our nation.” It also accused X of not responding adequately to requests from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to block accounts allegedly involved in defamatory campaigns against former chief justice Qazi Faez Isa and the army chief. During the year-long suspension, X management made only one public comment, stating that the company would,
“continue to work with the Pakistani government to understand their concerns.”
