Pakistan Cuts Off Phone and Internet Services On Election Day (techcrunch.com) 36
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Pakistan has temporarily suspended mobile phone network and internet services across the country to combat any "possible threats," a top ministry said, as the South Asian nation commences its national election. In a statement, Pakistan's interior ministry said the move was prompted by recent incidents of terrorism in the country. The internet was accessible through wired broadband connections, local journalists posted on X earlier Thursday. But NetBlocks, an independent service that tracks outages, said later that Pakistan had started to block internet services as well. The polls have opened in the nation and will close at 5 p.m. The interior ministry didn't say when it will switch back on the mobile services.
Radio (Score:3)
Did they jam other radio communications? Mesh? Ham? Satellite?
Re: (Score:3)
Did they jam other radio communications? Mesh? Ham? Satellite?
They don't worry about tech used by small groups. They are worried about mass unrest and rioting.
If 100 people show up to protest, the local police can deal with it. If 100,000 show up, they can't.
Pakistan is a deeply divided country, and there have already been many murders and bombings about this election.
Regardless of the outcome, people will be upset, and there will be violence.
The threat of an informed population (Score:2)
What threat would cutting internet and phone help solve?
Re: (Score:3)
What threat would cutting internet and phone help solve?
On the one hand, I imagine it's meant to make it difficult for any group trying to coordinate disruption of the voting. On the other hand I know I wouldn't be voting to re-elect the people who decided to cut off my mobile and Internet access.
GOTV (Score:2)
I would expect GOTV efforts are hamstrung by this. Maybe that is the point.
Re: (Score:2)
There's definitely people who don't know what day today is, nor that it's election day -- even if only a few. Also no, we don't keep track of what happens in Pakistan, that's why we're randomly speculating about the reasons. You are welcome to mention why instead of acting surprised no one here knows.
Re: (Score:2)
I presume it is to stifle the protests of supporters of deposed Imran Khan.
Re: (Score:3)
Well I don't know the facts but he is currently in jail; the establishment wanted him gone.
Imran will always has status in the Commonwealth as a cricket legend.
Re:The threat of an informed population (Score:4, Insightful)
I know I wouldn't be voting to re-elect the people who decided to cut off my mobile and Internet access.
You might if you look at the alternatives.
Pakistan has conflict with India, deteriorating relations with Iran, tribal violence along the Afghan frontier, routine sectarian violence in Baluchistan, religious extremism, food shortages, and a basket-case economy.
A day without the Internet isn't the only issue that Pakistanis will be voting on.
Re:The threat of an informed population (Score:4, Interesting)
One thing that has occurred in some countries (not sure about Pakistan):
You either get a reward for voting the "right way". Or a visit from the local thugs if you vote wrong. People go into the little screened booth to mark up their ballots and are expected to text a picture of it to the local party leaders. For appropriate action.
Can't text? Enforcers don't know who to go after.
Re: The threat of an informed population (Score:4, Interesting)
Coming soon to an election near you. "Patriots" defending America from the "insurgents and commies" by restricting access to voting locations.
Oh, worry not...those folks trying to look very intimidating aren't trying to sway the elections! Just making sure that the "correct and honest" ballots are the only ones counted.
No? Did you miss that the vast majority of ACTUAL election fraud in 2020 was done by one party?
Re: (Score:2)
restricting access to voting locations.
Not a problem here. We vote 100% by mail. Or convenient ballot drop boxes, as long as you don't get stuck behind someone trying to stuff a pillowcase full of envelopes through the little slot one at a time.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
As far as I can see, mailed votes are easier to tamper with than in-person votes. Of course most e-voting votes are even easier to tamper with.
But if would be convincing enough for you even if your candidate loses, then it's working.
After all one of the top objectives for an election system is convincing enough of the losers that they have lost. Of course the fault could lie with the sore losers, but if the system
Re: (Score:2)
You think you vote by mail. But what makes you so sure it's really your votes that are counted?
Paper ballots are auditable. To a greater degree than electronic only systems. And it's even better if the counting process can be observed by representatives of all interested candidates. Throughout 100% of the process. Not sent home halfway through.
After all one of the top objectives for an election system is convincing enough of the losers that they have lost.
Or eliminate losers. The candidate you voted for won. Well, they were your 15th ranked choice out of 15. But you still get your gold star for participating. And now it's nap time, kiddies. After which, we will have drag queen story hour.
This is a Test. (Score:2)
What threat would cutting internet and phone help solve?
It doesn’t. It was likely done to determine one thing; citizen response.
The interior ministry didn't say when it will switch back on the mobile services.
Same with this I’ll-turn-it-back-on-when-I-feel-like-it bullshit. This is a Government testing public backlash. If it becomes manageable, then they know they can shut these services off any time they want, and for whatever reason.
Maybe he did say (Score:4, Funny)
The interior ministry didn't say when it will switch back on the mobile services.
If he did, nobody got the news because the internet is down.
Re: (Score:2)
If he did, nobody got the news because the internet is down.
There is still broadcast radio and TV.
Hey Pakistan businesses (Score:2)
How's the cloud working out for you?
Re: (Score:2)
Election day is a holiday in Pakistan, so most businesses are closed.
Re: (Score:2)
Because you think IT stops during holidays and weekends?
The cloud is not just Office 365 and Teams for 9-to-5 workers. I guarantee you servers going down is going to cause chaos across many Pakistani industries and have an actual, measurable cost on the economy.
Re: (Score:1)
Uploading and flash mob scheduling are hindered by this. So is recording and uploading election fraud. It's much easier to steer the news as desired by the imams who've been hosting and training Hamas and other radical muslims for generations. There are political reasons that Osama bin Laden fled to Pakistan, and that Pakistan sells nuclear weapons technology around the globe with the labels from the French barely scraped off.
Re: (Score:2)
Weill the reduction in scam calls received worldwide be noticeable?
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/... [thisismoney.co.uk]
Don’t like it? Cast a vote then. (Score:2)
Given that Election Day for them is a national holiday, I’d say the local Govenrment has already determined exactly what is valued on that day. All day. You are a citizen, and your duty that day is to cast a vote.
I think we can stop speaking as if they got DDoSed off the web by 100 countries. Someone chose to do this. Don’t like it? I’d say the citizens should get out and cast a vote for change then. How ironic the outage we’re discussing, is related to that very democracy.
Trump to block Internet in the US (Score:1)
Trump has threatened to shut off Internet and TV networks if elected, to prevent anyone from commenting negatively
This isn't as much of a "Pakistan" thing or "third world" thing as you might think.
When the government (or wannabe governments) stop the ability of the people to speak amongst themselves... that's the end of freedom of expression.
Re: (Score:2)
No shit (Score:2)
In case you didn't know, Pakistan is basically a warzone, so this is not very surprising.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
India needs to try this for a month! (Score:2)
Then my 30-50 scam calls per day from people with an Indian accent should vanish!
Re: (Score:2)
Upwards of 50 calls per day?
Not quite sure what you did to deserve such attention, but we don’t exactly live in a world where people memorize phone numbers anymore. You could consider changing it to mitigate some or all of that problem.
Hardly surprising (Score:2)
Algeria even does it for highschool exams (Score:2)
They are nuts,