No internet, no social media? Imran Khan tells what's next for Pak as turmoil drags on

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan warned on Monday that internet services across Pakistan will come to a halt as part of the ruling coalition's attempts to subdue the uproar that was sparked by his arrest earlier this month. Taking to Twitter, Khan said that "tomorrow they will again suspend internet services and ban social media (which is only partially open)."

"Meanwhile, as we speak, houses are being broken in and shamelessly police is mandhandling the women of the houses," he said, referring to the widespread raids conducted by the police on PTI workers and supporters across the country. While Khan has asserted that Pakistan could dive into a complete internet shutdown, this won't be the first time that such a scenario has unfolded in the crises-stricken nation.

And tomorrow they will again suspend internet services and ban social media (which is only partially open).
Meanwhile, as we speak, houses are being broken in and shamelessly police is mandhandling the women of the houses.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI)

Pak government pulls the plug on internet services amid raging protests

Over the weekend, cellular internet services were restored across Pakistan after a complete halt when Khan was heading back to his Lahore estate on Saturday. Just a day before, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had announced that the services would not be resumed until perpetrators of violent protests and acts of vandalism are not taken into custody.

"It will take some time to arrest the miscreants who set fire to people’s houses and the internet services might remain blocked till then,” he said at the time, according to Dawn. The incumbent government justified the blockade by stating that it was a preventative measure to avoid the dissemination of any kind of misinformation and inciteful content that could further aggravate the chaos.

One senior information ministry official who spoke to the outlet anonymously said that the Shehbaz Sharif administration feared that social media “will be used for political mileage by the opposition". The ban was imposed on May 9, and barred access to social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.