Spotify Is Falsely Claiming To Be Banned In Pakistan In Posts

(CTN News) – A number of viral online posts indicate that Pakistani authorities have now banned Spotify, a popular digital music and podcast service, following their decision to block access to X, formerly known as Twitter.

The claim is false, despite what it claims. There are no restrictions on Spotify, to date, even though X has been blocked in Pakistan for over a month now.

Make a claim

There was a stir on social media on March 25, when people began asking if Spotify had been banned in Pakistan by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The PTA had previously blocked the use of X (Twitter) in the country.

Here, here, and here are some of the other online users who asked the same question as well.

The truth

There has been no restriction on Spotify access in Pakistan so far, according to independent internet monitoring organisations, which have examined the situation.

Geo Fact Check received a message on March 26 from Bytes for All (B4A), an Islamabad-based research think tank engaged in the study of information and communication technologies, confirming that is “working fine” across other platforms as well.

MMfD, a non-profit organisation based in Islamabad that works for media literacy and digital empowerment, confirmed that Spotify was working without the use of a VPN, adding that it was working without a VPN.

There has not been a block on, MMfD’s content analyst Huzaifa Baloch told BuzzFeed, “but there may have been some glitches on March 25,” he said.

It has also been observed that the team of Geo Fact Check had no trouble accessing Spotify without the use of a VPN.

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