WEB DESK: People are facing problems accessing BlueSky, leading to questions and assumptions that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has blocked Bluesky after ‘X’ in Pakistan.
PTA has not provided any explanation regarding whether Bluesky has been blocked, but users in Pakistan can only access it using a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Bluesky has been growing rapidly, with over 16 million users globally.
The restricted access to Bluesky has raised concerns among users and activists, who worry it could potentially limit free speech and online access in Pakistan, though the exact status of the ban remains unclear.
Recently, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) declared VPN use as un-Islamic, adding to the ongoing debate about internet regulations in the country. The Chairman of the CII Dr Raghib Hussein Naeemi has defended the recent fatwa issued by the council concerning the use of VPN as haram to Muslims.
What is Bluesky?
To put it simply, it looks how X, formerly known as Twitter, used to look.
Bluesky describes itself as “social media as it should be”. People using the platform can post, comment, repost, and like their favourite things.
If you think it feels a lot like X, you won’t be surprised to learn why. The former head of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, created it.
He even once said he wanted Bluesky to be a decentralised version of Twitter that no single person or entity owns.
But Dorsey is no longer part of the team behind it, having stepped down from the board in May 2024.
It is now run and predominantly owned by chief executive Jay Graber as a US public benefit corporation.
Bluesky has been around since 2019; until February of this year, it was invitation-only.
The surge in new Bluesky users following Donald Trump’s US election triumph in November is not coincidental.
Elon Musk, X’s owner, will involved in Trump’s government as Musk supported him strongly during his campaign.
This has inevitably caused a political split as some people leave X in protest.
From pop artist Lizzo to Taskmaster’s Greg Davies, several celebs have revealed they are joining. A few Pakistani journalists have also made their account.
