Islamabad, Sep 23: WhatsApp and Instagram users in Pakistan experienced service disruptions, according to outage tracker Downdetector. Instagram users reported 86 outages within an hour, while WhatsApp disruptions began around 10:45 am.
Additionally, network providers Zong and PTCL faced issues, with users struggling to send multimedia content via mobile broadband.
Pakistan has seen significant internet disruptions recently, with platform X (formerly Twitter) being inaccessible for months. Digital rights experts suggest the government may be testing a firewall, although the administration denies these claims.
Moreover, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) noted that ongoing internet slowdowns are linked to damage in two international submarine cables, SMW-4 and AAE-1. While the AAE-1 cable has been repaired, improving connectivity, SMW-4 is expected to be fixed by early October 2024.
