Pakistani Twitter Hashtags Starts Trending in Netherlands as VPN Use Skyrockets

Hashtags including #Imran Khan and #BehindYouSkipper are trending with an impressive tweet count of 90,882 and 132,774 respectively

Social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube were blocked in Pakistan following the arrest of former Prime Minister ‘Imran Khan’ on 9th May. People soon moved towards VPN’s, changing their locations and continuing to use social media as a medium of protest against Khan’s arrest.

According to data, VPN usage in Pakistan surged by a staggering 846%, with a large part of the country’s digital population using a VPN to access banned platforms.

Following this massive VPN usage, Pakistani Twitter hashtags started trending in the Netherlands, confusing the dutch users. The hashtag ‘#Pakistan’ appeared as the number one hashtag on the Dutch Twitter, whereas other tweets #Imran Khan and #BehindYouSkipper are trending with an impressive tweet count of 90,882 and 132,774 respectively.

Other hashtags including ‘#عمران_خان_کو_رہا_کرو’ (release Imran Khan) and ‘#نکلو_خان_کی_زندگ_بچاؤ’ (come out and save Khan) were also trending with a surprising view count of 85,670 and 125,290 respectively.

Many Pakistani hashtags highlighting the political situation also went on to garnish millions of views, these included hashtags such as “Malik Riaz,” “Rangers,” “Aurat March,” “Islamabad High Court,” and “Martial Law”.

Reaching the trending page of another country, Pakistani protestants have proved that they are eager and determined to get their voices out and defend their political parties despite all bans on the internet or social media.

While the current government continues its ban on social media and the internet, the public is persistent in its protest and is trying its level best to get the word out.

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