On Sunday, August 21, several internet users reported that they were unable to access video sharing site YouTube in Pakistan.
This coincided with the timing of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech regarding politically motivated cases registered against him as well as his party leadership, and the subsequent ban on live coverage of his speeches by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra).
The former premier and his supporters allege that YouTube was temporarily blocked in Pakistan to obstruct live-streaming on YouTube of Imran Khan’s speech.
The fascist Imported govt sunk to a new low today by banning live coverage of my speeches on TV & then blocking YouTube temporarily during my speech at Liaquat Bagh. All this after continuous intimidation of mediapersons & taking channels off air earlier.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) August 21, 2022
What the evidence says
Apart from hundreds of social media users complaining about being unable to access YouTube, independent internet watchdog Netblocks ran network analysis tests in Pakistan through users which showed that YouTube was working for only 38 per cent of users who ran the test. This means that YouTube was accessible on only a few networks and not on others.
Because the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has not made any public comments to the media or on its website regarding the outage, we have to evaluate the available evidence to determine how the censorship of YouTube over a short span of time panned out.
⚠️ Confirmed: Metrics corroborate reports of a disruption to YouTube in Pakistan on multiple internet providers; the incident comes as former PM Imran Khan live streams on the platform despite a ban by media regulator PEMRA
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) August 21, 2022
📰 Report: https://t.co/mFBehYjlnY pic.twitter.com/CtD8vYX8f6
Meanwhile, @TeamYoutube also confirmed on Twitter that it was reviewing reports of disruption of YouTube services in Pakistan.
