KARACHI – The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) claimed on Monday that “millions” attended its first-ever virtual rally last night, despite difficulties in accessing major social media platforms.
Former prime minister Imran Khan’s party said a widespread internet outage in Pakistan was witnessed just ahead of a highly anticipated virtual gathering, adding that it had impacted popular platforms like YouTube, Meta, and Google, sparking concerns about the resilience of the country’s digital infrastructure. The PTI alleged the caretaker government of disrupting the online services.
The outage was also confirmed by Internet watchdog NetBlocks. In a post on X, it wrote: “Metrics show major social media platforms were restricted in #Pakistan for ~7 hours on Sunday evening during an online political gathering”.
The PTI has been striving to launch its election campaign as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced schedule for the general elections 2024. The rally was held as party founder Imran Khan has been detained in Adiala Jail for months in multiple cases.
“On PTI’s social media platforms, the initial viewership data for the #PTIVirtualJalsa revealed an audience in the millions, reflecting the widespread engagement with the event,” the party said in a press release.
It said 1.4 million people witnessed the rally on Facebook, 1.2 million on YouTube while another 1.5 million attended the event on a space organized by the party on X.
It added that the event was attended by Pakistanis from across the world.
“The PTI’s virtual jalsa dominated the top 5 trends in Pakistan, marking a significant online presence,” the party said, terming it as a “de facto referendum” by people of Pakistan ahead of the elections scheduled to take place on February 8.
