Many users on X claimed that they could not access Facebook. Some users also questioned whether Facebook had been banned by the government like X.

Pakistan-based social media platform observer ‘Down Detector’ showed a surge in user complaints regarding Facebook’s accessibility starting at 12 am on Monday.

The complaints surged again by noon on Wednesday.

International observer Netblocks confirmed later that restrictions were in effect on multiple ISPs in Pakistan.

“Metrics show restrictions to Facebook are in effect on multiple providers in #Pakistan adding to the ongoing X ban imposed since 17 February; the new measure comes on the Islamic holy day of Ashura when authorities typically restrict mobile internet services,” Netblocks wrote in a post on X.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, maintains a status dashboard to track problems to its platforms. However, even the dashboard carries a ‘No known issues’ status for Facebook login.

The disruption to Facebook comes on Muharram 10, as thousands of processions marking the sacrifice of Imam Hussain (RA) are organised across Pakistan. Strict security has been implemented across Pakistan with mobile signals being suspended in some places.

On July 4, the Punjab government had written to the federal interior ministry to propose a ban on all social media platforms including YouTube and Facebook from Muharram 6 to Muharram 11 based on security concerns. However, the request was rejected.

Facebook last went down on March 5. However, the outage in that instance was global and was corroborated by Meta’s dashboard, Netblocks, and Down Detector.

Meanwhile, social media app X continues to be banned in Pakistan. The government recently told a court that the platform was shut as it posed a risk to national security.