Late on Friday, the federal government declared that mobile broadband connections will be restored countrywide, but users are still having trouble accessing social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
A representative for the country’s telecom authority told local media that they have not received any instructions from the government on the restoration of social media apps, despite the fact that people are straining to reconnect with one another on these platforms.
Social media users, in particular digital content producers, bloggers, and IT professionals, bemoaned the continued restriction on social media in the protest.
After days of upheaval, the crisis-affected country suffers enormous losses at a time when the economy is in freefall. According to reports, telecom operators lost close to Rs 2.5 billion in income. The enormous sum is only an estimate from one industry, and it’s estimated that more than Rs10 billion in economic activity was lost overall.
Major social media platforms were all down earlier this week due to widespread protests that followed the detention of the former prime minister Imran Khan, who has now been granted two weeks’ bail by the Islamabad High Court.
People were distraught after Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) stated that mobile broadband and internet services had been suspended countrywide at the interior ministry’s request.
