Slow Internet and Social Media Goes Down in Pakistan

Internet users in Pakistan are once again reporting slow internet connectivity with social media services like Facebook and Messenger down for majority of users across the country. The internet disruption was reported by several users, utilizing different Internet Service Providers (ISPs), from different cities across the country.

According to Downdetector, a real-time tracker for online services and websites, started getting an influx of complaints from users unable to access social media platforms like Facebook and Messenger. Furthermore, these reports started coming in around 5:10 pm on Wednesday (January 31, 2024).

Facebook’s Messenger showed a similar spike in user reports unable to access the app from their phones.

While social media services like Instagram and YouTube are accessible to some users, the services seem to be degraded due to overall slow internet connectivity in Pakistan.

It is pertinent to mention that slow internet and social media outages have become a common occurrence in Pakistan during the last few weeks. Previously, Pakistani users experienced degraded internet services and social media outage on January 20, 2024.

According to Director-General of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Ahmed Shamim Pirzada, in a press conference last week, internet outages may occur for the next two or three months due to a technical glitch in PTA’s system.

However, a report by a local news channel stated that internet disruptions are being caused PTA’s upgradation of their Web Monitoring System (WMS).