Pakistan blocks Bluesky amid rising popularity
Bluesky has just been added to the list of blocked social media platforms in Pakistan as people around the world 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: Statistics show that social media platform Bluesky, a popular X alternative, is restricted in Pakistan, confirming user reports of issues accessing the service; Pakistan has imposed a growing number of bans on social media platforms and is also targeting VPN services pic.twitter.com/Lt6vvyKnVINovember 20, 2024
The blockage comes at the same time that Virtual Private Network (VPN) tools, the software you need to bypass these types of restrictions, are also being targeted. Authorities established November 30 as deadline for companies and freelancers to register their VPNs and prevent further service disruptions.
It is not yet clear whether commercial VPNs will also be blocked. However, last week, Pakistan’s religious leader said using a VPN is against Islamic law and called for a ban. The Ministry of Interior also called for blocking all “illegal” VPNs, claiming that terrorists use these tools “to facilitate violent activities and financial transactions in Pakistan.”
While it is 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 top VPN providers on the market, told Ny Breaking: “This further contributes to a worrying trend of internet usage. censorship and restriction of people’s 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 the 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 – still appears to be a viable option for maintaining access to Bluesky in the country.
At the start of the month, residents complained about problems accessing their VPN apps during the day, which seemed like the start of a crackdown on ‘unregistered’ VPNs. Authorities later confirmed that this was a “brief technical glitch” and normal service quickly resumed.
Malinauskas said Surfshark was also experiencing service disruptions at the time. “Currently, our services are functioning without interruption in the country, but we are closely monitoring the situation,” he added.
However, this may change within a week as the registration deadline passes. I recommend checking out our best free VPN page to get the safest freebies around without paying for them all. This allows you to jump from one service to another in case of throttling.
Tools like the Tor Browser are also useful. Completely free to use and open-source, Tor is generally considered even more secure than VPNs as it encrypts your data in at least three levels of encryption while spoofing your IP.