PTA ‘looking into’ reports of social media outage

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has said that it is looking into reports that the internet services witnessed disruption in "some parts" of the country. 

In a statement on Monday, the PTA said the overall situation of internet access across the country was normal.

The statement came a day after social media sites faced serious disruptions almost across the country as a large number of netizens complained about difficulties in accessing YouTube, Facebook and X — formerly known as Twitter.

According to Downdetector, the apps, especially the website versions went down after 7:00pm on Sunday.

Karachi, Lahore, Mir Pur Khas, and Rawalpindi were the most affected cities in the country.

Some users had also taken to WhatsApp to report the internet’s lagging issues. The reason behind the outage could not be ascertained till the filing of the report.

Several internet users complained of slow internet, but some pointed out that the internet was working fine when the VPN was turned on, which grew concerns among the masses making them question if it was advertently slowed down.

A journalist on X wrote, “Having trouble accessing Twitter/X and other social media platforms. Overall internet seems slow as well. Anyone else in Pakistan facing the same?”

A large number of people responded that they were also facing the same issue.

Another X user said, "In Pakistan, there are limitations imposed on internet access and the use of social media applications. Could you please confirm this information?"