PTA bears the brunt as Twitterati turn to VPNs during social media blackout

Pakistan blocked social media applications including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp on Friday as a security measure and people weren't pleased.

The Ministry of Interior on Friday directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to temporarily block access to social media platforms — Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and Telegram — from 11am to 3pm. The PTA then announced the move on Twitter, prompting incredulity from the few users able to access the site using VPNs or just sheer dumb luck.

People saw the PTA tweet and had some questions.

The lack of reasonability in the decision didn't beat this one.

This guy had some choice words for the PTA (after Iftaar of course).

The PTA might not have been pleased with these reactions.

It was “working” for some people

The usual suspect found itself having to present a defence.

Some people missed the entire thing. Some others felt lost.

Honestly, we just want what's best for this guy's dad.

The ban's been lifted and life on the internet is back to normal. Pakistan can peacefully browse now, albeit cautiously because we don't know when the next outage will come. Though there's some comfort in knowing that with every successive outage, the memes only get better.