PTI navigates blackouts to keep campaign alive

Former prime minister Imran Khan's party has redefined election campaigning in Pakistan with its social media rallies and use of AI technology in a bid to sidestep a nationwide crackdown that has followed it online.

Khan was jailed in the build-up to the campaign, while his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has been heavily restricted from campaigning for Thursday's vote and banned from the television airwaves. Censorship then followed as the party pushed its election campaign online.

"They can ban what they want, they can ban YouTube and TikTok, whatever they want but our vote is for Imran Khan," 18-year-old Imran Aziz, a first-time voter, told AFP at a bustling electronics market in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Pakistani internet freedom watchdog Bytes 4 All recorded four hours-long social media shutdowns in January –- cutting off access to TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube while Khan's PTI live-streamed to its supporters.

The blackouts were blamed by the government on "technical difficulties".

Despite the restrictions, PTI remains far ahead of its rivals when it comes to connecting online with Pakistan's youthful population and tens of millions tune in to their live-streams.

They've also become the first party to use AI voice-cloning technology, releasing a fresh speech by Khan from behind bars.

"They have apps, they have online speeches, they've done a Tiktok jalsa (gathering) which is unprecedented, at least in Pakistan, so they have a way of innovating and it's always been the case," said Ramsha Jahangir, a technology journalist.

She said censorship efforts by the government have little impact on PTI's popularity because the party is nimble enough to keep reaching its voters.