Islamabad: Pakistan has been ranked third in the world for the imposition of internet restrictions in the first half of 2023, Pakistan-based Dawn reported.

Pakistan has imposed three of the 42 new restrictions worldwide, Dawn reported citing a report by Surfshark, a virtual private network company headquartered in Lithuania, a half-year analysis of internet shutdown based on the Internet Shutdown Tracker. These internet restrictions were imposed after the arrest of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 9.

At the time, restrictions on access to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube were imposed in Pakistan, the report said. Furthermore, several temporary cellular network disruptions were witnessed in Pakistan for several days afterwards.

In the first half of 2023, Facebook continued to face restrictions in the first half of 2023. Facebook was restricted in Ethiopia, Guinea, Senegal, Pakistan, and Suriname, Dawn reported citing the report. All of these nations have had a history of government-imposed internet restrictions.

Telegram, Instagram, and YouTube faced restrictions in four countries. WhatsApp and Twitter faced restrictions in three countries. Ethiopia had restricted TikTok in first half of the year. However, US became the eighth nation to ban TikTok, Dawn reported citing the report.

According to the report, there was a 31 per cent decline in new internet disruption in the first half of 2023 in comparison to the same period in 2022. However, the number of nations imposing restrictions increased from 13 to 14.

Asia led the world for internet disruptions with 71 per cent of new global cases, Dawn cited the report. According to Surfshark, an estimated 2.35 billion people faced internet censorship throughout the year.

Earlier in May, a report said that Pakistan in 2022 remained among the world's worst performers in terms of internet access and digital governance, Dawn reported.

The report titled 'Pakistan's Internet Landscape 2022' was released by human rights and advocacy organisation Bytes For All and explored in detail the complex relationship between human rights and information and communication technologies, as per the news report.

According to the report, Pakistan made some gains with respect to internet access and overall governance. However, the country remained among the worst performers, according to Dawn.

"In terms of internet access and overall governance, Pakistan made some gains, but in the context of the world, the country remains among the worst performers, even within just Asia," Dawn quoted the report as saying.

The report said that despite a rise in internet penetration, approximately 15 per cent of the population still lacked access to the internet and mobile or telecom services. According to the report, the rest of the people suffered from slow speeds and a lack of consistency in services.