New Delhi: A Pakistani open-source intelligence handle by the name Intel Consortium has become a laughing stock in Pakistan after it suggested in all earnestness that Imran Khan’s PTI had a clear connection with India’s R&AW. The handle claimed that PTI’s website was being operated from Mumbai. Their assumption is based on it sharing a “common” IP address with an Indian website.
Social media users on X schooled @IntelConsortium on how the global internet networks work, even PTI attacked the handle suggesting the Pakistani government is behind such assertions. The ‘caretaker govt had simply lost it,’ it said.
@IntelConsortium put out a post on Wednesday that read, “#Breaking:- The revelation of a #PTI-RAW connection emerges as the PTI’s General #Election2024 website is found to be operated from Mumbai, Maharashtra. The associated IP address is linked to another Indian website, indicating the geographical location of the website’s operation rather than just data storage”
The claim was countered by a community note under the post which called it “misleading”. “Any site on AWS [Amazon Web Services] reflects server location & IP address of the local server in that region. In this case, it appears as India due to the presence of AWS servers there,” it read.
The Pakistani OSINT, confident of its claims, even released a video asserting that they anticipated the scepticism. Written in Urdu, the video reads, “We are not talking about the content that is being talked about, rather where the IP is being operated from. All PTI websites are being operated from India. Is there any doubt now that there is an alliance between Modi and PTI?”
That was enough for X users to teach the handle how the internet works.
“Anyone can host its website on AWS servers in any region of the world. India Mumbai is the nearest region to Pakistan for better with low prices and better service of AWS. The majority of Pak websites are hosted at AWS like GC and Azure which are also foreign-based cloud services (sic)”, one wrote.
Another user pointed out the reason why such services were limited to India. “…if you clowns weren’t shutting down the internet every week and blocking websites left and right, maybe we would’ve had AWS data centres in Pakistan too.”
One user took the opportunity to point out India’s superiority. “While you cry abt RAW, admit India has global cloud providers. Do we have any ? Let’s sit down & #STFU”
Also Read: Nawaz supporters bring a lion to rally. Pakistanis say human rights worse than animal rights
Internet shutdowns and misinformation
Following virtual rallies by former prime minister Imran Khan’s political party ahead of the general elections, Pakistan’s social media and internet services have been significantly throttled in the past few months. Users are now worried whether the current government might end up banning AWS due to this misinformation.
“Please don’t misguide #Solangi and #UmarSaif hope they don’t block AWS in Pakistan after your misguided info #InternetDown,” a concerned user wrote.
While one user seemed to simply call it “Jahalat [ignorance] pro-max”, many blamed the disruptive internet in Pakistan—“Fix the root cause instead of playing the India card.”
Pakistanis coped with their embarrassment through humour. Memes were dished out, and advice was given.
https://twitter.com/PutOption/status/1750261198648418749
But the post which reached over 15,000 users simply asked, “What did we do to deserve such duffers to rule over us? @ Dear God. I can’t bear this insult any longer!!!!”
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)