Users across Pakistan are facing serious problems in using internet and social media. Although the internet is functional in the country, its speed is constantly decreasing. As a result, business is being disrupted.

Pakistani media outlet Pakistan Observer reported that the situation was further complicated by the outage of WhatsApp, an important social media platform. Both individuals and businesses are affected by this.

Common people complain that their rights are being violated through internet outages. The state is also facing financial loss. Online transport and business transactions are complicated due to disruption of internet services.

Users have also protested the shutdown of the social media platform. They see it as an obstacle to freedom of expression.

Civil society says that the internet shutdown is not only creating serious communication problems, but also damaging the international reputation of the government. However, the Pakistani government is tight-lipped about the disruption of internet and social media services. No official statement is yet available from the country’s Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (PTA).

Another Pakistani media outlet ARY News reported that the Standing Committee on Information Technology of the National Assembly has summoned PTA Chairman Hafiz Rehman to explain the ongoing social media outage across the country.

The committee will also seek clarification on internet outages and weak mobile signals across the country. The Attorney General of Pakistan has also been invited to participate in their meeting. The media said that Internet services are still being disrupted across Pakistan. However, the real reason is not yet known.

Officials of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) have identified a fault in the underground submarine cable as a possible cause of the internet service disruption, their sources said.