On Sunday night, a widespread disruption in internet services gripped the country, leading to difficulties accessing social media platforms. Complaints poured in from various regions, with users reporting outages on YouTube, Facebook, and X [formerly Twitter], while some turned to WhatsApp to flag issues. Cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Mirpur Khas, and Rawalpindi experienced severe impacts.
Downdetector noted that website versions of these apps became inaccessible around 7:00 pm. Despite numerous user reports, the cause of the outage remains unclear, as the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has yet to issue a statement.
Surfshark, a Lithuania-based virtual private network company, disclosed in a report that Pakistan ranked below Iran and India in imposing internet restrictions during the first half of 2023. The report highlighted Asia as experiencing the highest concentration of internet shutdowns during this period.
Netblock, The Internet’s Observatory, confirmed the disruption, stating, “Live metrics show a nation-scale disruption to social media platforms across #Pakistan, including X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.”
⚠️ Confirmed: Live metrics show a nation-scale disruption to social media platforms across #Pakistan, including X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube; the incident comes just ahead of a major virtual gathering organized by persecuted opposition leader Imran Khan’s party, PTI pic.twitter.com/ifWNN9ZwYL
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) December 17, 2023