Global monitor reports ‘major disruption’ as Internet connectivity plunges to 20% in Pakistan

KARACHI: Pakistan experienced a dramatic collapse in Internet access on Tuesday, with connectivity falling to just 20% of normal levels, according to NetBlocks, a global observatory for Internet governance.

This follows a pattern of frequent Internet throttling and service outages in Pakistan, which human rights observers and digital-rights activists have long decried as tools for censorship and political control. Authorities deny this.

“Metrics show a major disruption to Internet connectivity across #Pakistan with high impact to backbone operator PTCL; overall national connectivity is down to 20 percent of ordinary levels.” NetBlocks said in a post on X.

At the time of the filing of this report, state telecom authorities, including PTCL and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, had not responded publicly to the latest outage, even as millions of users remain offline.

There are approximately 116 million Internet users in Pakistan, according to DataReportal’s Digital 2025 report. This figure represents about 45.7 percent of the total population.