Despite the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) announcement of restoring mobile broadband services, social media platforms remained inaccessible on Saturday, a day after the announcement, according to Reuters and user reports. On May 9, the PTA had suspended mobile broadband and restricted access to Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube on the interior ministry’s instructions in the wake of violent protests sparked by PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest. The decision came after social media was filled with footage of a mob clashing with police in Karachi, attacking and entering the army’s head office, General Headquarters, in Rawalpindi and vandalizing the official residence of a high-ranking military officer in Lahore. The PTA had said late last night that the services would be restored in a staggered manner and also said that it was “removing restrictions on access to social media platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook”. However, Downdetector, an internet connectivity watchdog, showed a spike in outage reports since earlier this morning – the fourth day of such restrictions – while accessing the said platforms. Downdetector graphs for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube indicated that the spike was noticeable from 8 am onwards today.

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