Pakistani users of Instagram and WhatsApp had problems on Saturday, according to Downdetector, an outage monitoring service.
Downdetector reports that in only one hour today, Instagram users reported 86 outages, while WhatsApp users experienced issues since 10:45 am.
Since this morning, Zong and PTCL, two more network providers, have also seen interruptions.
The announcement coincides with severe internet service interruptions that Pakistan has been experiencing because to the country’s months-long ban on X (formerly Twitter).
The government is reportedly developing a firewall, a security tool that may be used to control online spaces in addition to monitoring network traffic, according to experts on digital rights. Such a firewall is not set by the administration.
The PTA announced on August 28 that the continuous internet outage throughout Pakistan was anticipated to worsen and that the broken SMW-4 underwater cable would probably need to be repaired by early October 2024.
The PTA released a statement saying, “The fault in two (SMW4, AAE-1) of the seven global submarine cables linking Pakistan internationally is the main cause of the ongoing internet slowdown throughout the country.”
According to updates, the SMW-4 underwater cable problem should be fixed by early October 2024.
The authority added that repairs had been made to the undersea cable AAE-1, “which may improve internet experience.”
