Pakistan: Online monitoring tools refute govt's claims of uninterrupted internet services

Islamabad [Pakistan], December 2 (ANI): At least two online tools have refuted the government's claims of uninterrupted internet services and reported widespread issues faced by internet users while they tried to use social media websites.
According to data analysed from these tools, which track network stability and monitor internet outages in real time, found that internet users were not able to access or had limited access to several social media services on Sunday, Dawn reported.
These internet disruptions lasted for hours, according to Internet Outage Detection and Analysis (IODA), a tool developed by the Internet Intelligence Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The tool, which measures internet connectivity and detects outages found that the network remained stable at the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) level throughout the day.
Speaking to Dawn, a network expert said that the stability of BGP routes, which are unique identifiers assigned to major internet providers, implies no widespread outage has been reported.
The expert stated, "Any disruption in BGP stability indicates a network-wide issue which usually occurs as a result of a submarine cable fault or fire at a data centre, etc."
Despite the stable network, IODA said disruption in the internet is based on assessment of traffic to Google Services. Online tools tracking internet disruption use traffic to popular websites and services to check internet stability in the region.
IODA uses traffic headed to Google services like search engine, YouTube, Gmail, etc from a geographic location to assess any abnormality in accessing internet.
IODA reported disruption in traffic from Pakistan to Google services from 10 pm on Saturday and 8:30 am on Sunday and then from 1:30 pm to 6 pm. Speaking to Dawn, the expert said that the traffic to Google addresses indicates general internet usage.
The expert said, "For example, if daily an x amount of traffic comes to Google addresses from Pakistan and today it is not coming, this is indicative of a restriction [of the internet]." According to the expert, the IODA data showed there has been "abnormally restricted" internet access between the two time slots.
Downdetector, which bases its assessment on complaints of internet users, also reported disruption in WhatsApp throughout the day. Around 52 per cent of the users complained about facing issues in sending messages, 27 per cent about voice notes and 21 per cent about overall use of application, Dawn reported.
Internet users in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and other parts of Pakistan also reported facing issues in using Instagram and TikTok throughout the day. (ANI)