ISALAMABAD: Pakistani users faced a nationwide disruption of social media platforms on Sunday evening, with Internet monitor Netblocks and Downdetector reported the social media platforms, especially the website versions have been down shortly after 5pm local time.
The disruption of social media platforms and internet slowdown occurred hours before the PTI was scheduled to hold a virtual fundraising telethon and launch its election manifesto.
The users reported difficulties in accessing popular social media platforms, including X, Facebook and YouTube on Sunday, Internet Monitor Downdetector said.
According to Downdetector, Users in major cities such as Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad began experiencing difficulties in accessing social media sites shortly after 4pm. Additionally, users also complained about sluggish internet services.
A sharp rise in connection outages on YouTube, X and Facebook was seen in downdetector’s graphs.
The reason behind the widespread disruption is yet not clear as the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has not issued any statement.
“Live metrics show a nation-scale disruption to social media platforms across Pakistan, including X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube,” the internet tracking agency Netblocks said.
It added that the incident comes as “persecuted former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, PTI, launches its election fundraising telethon”.
In a similar incident last month, internet outages were also reported during a PTI virtual power show. The PTI had announced earlier on Sunday that it would hold a virtual fundraising telethon and manifesto launch at 9pm.
