Pakistan blocks Bluesky amid popularity surge

Date:
Fri, 22 Nov 2024 09:35:40 +0000

Description:
Bluesky is the latest social media platform that cannot be used in Pakistan
without a VPN. Yet, VPN usage is also a target.

FULL STORY
======================================================================

Bluesky was just added to the list of blocked social media platforms in
Pakistan as people worldwide flock to the X alternative. 

The internet watchdog NetBlocks reported the outage on Thursday, November 20,
2024 (see tweet below). 

X has been restricted since February, while Meta's Facebook and Instagram 
were restricted in July 2024 and May 2023, respectively, according to
Surfshark's Internet Tracker .

Confirmed: Metrics show social media platform Bluesky, a popular X
alternative, has been restricted in Pakistan, corroborating user reports of
issues accessing the service; Pakistan has imposed a growing number of social
media platform bans and is also targeting VPN services
pic.twitter.com/Lt6vvyKnVI November 20, 2024

The block comes at the same time that virtual private network (VPN) tools, 
the software you need to bypass this type of restriction, are also being
targeted. Authorities set November 30 as the deadline for businesses and
freelancers to register their VPNs and avoid further service disruptions. 

It isn't clear yet if commercial VPNs will be blocked, too. Last week,
however, Pakistan's religious chief said that using a VPN is against Islamic
law and called for a ban. The Ministry of Interior also called to block all
"illegal" VPNs, claiming that terrorists use these tools "to facilitate
violent activities and financial transactions in Pakistan." 

While it's still difficult to determine exactly how the new VPN rules will
impact people in Pakistan, Gytis Malinauskas, Head of Legal at Surfshark, one
of the best VPN providers on the market, told TechRadar: "This further
contributes to a worrying trend of internet censorship and limitation of
peoples digital rights in Pakistan."

How to unblock Bluesky 

Whether you live in Pakistan or are heading to the country soon, you're
probably looking for a way to bypass internet restrictions and access all 
your favorite social media apps as usual. 

At the time of writing, a VPN  security software that both encrypts your
internet connection and spoofs your real IP address location to grant access
to blocked content  seems to still be a viable option to keep accessing
Bluesky within the country. 

At the beginning of the month, residents lamented issues accessing their VPN
apps throughout the day in what looked like the beginning of the crackdown on
"unregistered" VPNs . Authorities later confirmed this to be a "brief
technical glitch" and normal service quickly resumed. 

Malinauskas said that also Surfshark experienced service disruptions at that
time. "Currently, our services are functioning without interruptions in the
country but we are closely monitoring the situation," he added. 

Yet, this may change in a week as the registration deadline expires. I 
suggest checking out our best free VPN page to get all the most secure
freebies out there without paying for them all. This will allow you to hop
from one service to another in case of throttling. 

Tools like the Tor Browser are also handy. Completely free to use and
open-source, Tor is generally considered even safer than VPNs as it encrypts
your data into at least three levels of encryption while spoofing your IP.

======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/vpn/pakistan-blocks-bluesky-amid-popularity-surg
e

$$
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux