Internet Outage Across Pakistan Causes Unrest Among People

Internet services and widely used social media applications encountered disruptions yesterday evening. Several users from different parts of the country reported connectivity issues and errors. Nationwide internet outage and social media blackout in Pakistan caused unrest among people. Many people expressed frustration over their ineptitude in accessing popular social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and the streaming giant YouTube. Reports claim that Google services and the internet service provider PTCL also experienced disruptions around 5 pm on Sunday. Downdetector has recently shared a graph indicating a substantial tide in connection outages for YouTube, X, and Facebook. Let’s have a look at that:

Pakistan Experiences Nationwide Internet Outage

Latest reports claim that this complete blackout of social media sites across the country was part of a considerable setback for Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). It severely impacted the party’s plans to launch its manifesto and raise funds through a telethon. This incident is not new at all. It is the second time in recent months that internet services were disrupted during an online event planned by PTI. PTI’s virtual power show also faced hurdles due to disruptions in internet services back on December 17.

As a result of this outage, many social media users couldn’t succeed in participating in the online event. According to Internet tracking agency Netblocks:

“Live metrics show a nation-scale disruption to social media platforms across Pakistan, including X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.”

Even though, PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan confessed the expected restrictions on social media and advised supporters to join through social media sites. Moreover, PTI suggested the use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for access after online disruptions. The good piece of news is that PTI managed to host a part of the online event on YouTube, moderated by Ali Malik and Jibran Ilyas, with over 7,000 participants. PTI collected USD 44,000 and PKR 30 million by 10:20 pm local time.