The telecommunications regulator in Pakistan has minimized the persistent problems that the nation’s cellular subscribers are having with WhatsApp, referring to it as a potential “technical glitch.”
On July 20, a number of users in Pakistan started to complain about having trouble utilizing their mobile networks to transmit and receive media files—like voice notes, pictures, and videos—on the well-known messaging service.
Some users reported that WhatsApp was displaying the warning “Couldn’t download document,” while others complained that media files were either taking too long to download or not downloading at all. Give it another go. If the issue persists, consider establishing a Wi-Fi connection.
A 2024 World Population Review estimate states that Pakistan has 52.3 million WhatsApp users.
For many people, the interruptions are still happening. WhatsApp outages in Pakistan have been reported to Downdetector, a global network that tracks issues with websites and online apps, repeatedly during the last day.
A Telenor Pakistan spokesperson stated that they had also had “some complaints over the weekend” regarding the quality of WhatsApp.
“We looked into the complaints and found no evidence of problems on our end or with our network,” he stated. They are better able to inform you about any issues that may have arisen from the backend or from elsewhere. We cannot comprehend that.
A Zong Pakistan official said it was hard to identify the precise problem and declined to provide any information.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) spokeswoman, Malahat Obaid, refuted any current problems with WhatsApp.
In a written answer, she informed Geo Fact Check that “there is no issue with WhatsApp or any social media apps currently.” “If anyone experienced any such issue lately, it may be due to some technical glitch.”
The spokesperson did not provide any details on the possible source of the “technical glitch.”
