Internet gradually recovers in Pakistan, social media apps restore functionality

Throttling of 3G and 4G services reportedly resulted in daily losses of Rs1.3 billion.

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Internet and social media issues in Pakistan have started to be resolved, with social media apps gradually coming back online in various regions.

Internet users across the country, including business professionals, freelancers, educational institutions, and students, had compained of suffering immense frustration due to slow internet speeds and unresponsive social media platforms.

The disruptions not only affected individual users but also inflicted significant financial losses on the nation.

The internet outage had rendered users unable to download media from social platforms, struggling to send and receive images, videos, voice messages, and other documents.

On Friday, internet services began to gradually restore in various parts of the country, with social media apps slowly coming back online, allowing users to resume downloading data.

Earlier, the ISPs Association had warned that if the internet and social media services remained down, Pakistan's economic condition would worsen further.

Global companies reliant on online operations might turn to other countries, leaving Pakistani freelancers in jeopardy.

Meanwhile, a petition against internet disruptions was heard in the Lahore High Court today, with the court issuing notices to the relevant parties and demanding a response.

Another petition was filed in the Islamabad High Court, urging that the installation of firewalls be made conditional upon stakeholder consultations and the protection of basic rights, stressing that internet access is a fundamental human right under the constitution.

The petition further requested that all details regarding the firewall installation be submitted to the court and that the installation process be suspended until a decision is reached.

It also called for ensuring uninterrupted internet access for citizens.

The petition claimed that the firewall installation appeared to have significantly slowed internet speeds, adversely affecting the youth, who are vital to the digital economy.

According to a report, the suspension of 3G and 4G services has resulted in daily losses of PKR 1.3 billion.