Snapchat Users in Pakistan Locked Out as App Suffers Major Crash

ISLAMABAD: Millions of us enjoy sharing photos, videos, and messages with friends and family on Snapchat. On Sunday, however, many found themselves suddenly unable to use the popular app, sparking confusion and frustration nationwide.

Reports of problems began to surface early in the day, with users in major cities like Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, and Peshawar experiencing difficulties. The disruption was not limited to Pakistan; users in the UK, France, and other countries also reported similar issues. According to Downdetector, a website that monitors online service outages, thousands of people worldwide were affected.

The majority of users (57%) said they had been logged out of their Snapchat accounts, while others faced trouble sharing (24%) or uploading content (18%). In Pakistan, Downdetector’s data showed that 53% of users reported being unable to access the app, 28% had problems sharing, and 19% could not upload anything as of 6pm on Sunday.

Despite the widespread impact, Snapchat has yet to release an official statement explaining the cause of the outage. Technology experts believe the problem may be related to a server-side disruption or a glitch from a recent update.

Interestingly, some users found that accessing Snapchat through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) allowed them to use the app, raising questions about whether the issue was region-specific or linked to server access restrictions.

Read more: PTA starts issuing licenses for VPN service providers in Pakistan

A heat map from Downdetector highlighted trouble spots around the world, confirming that the outage was not isolated to one country. The platform only flags outages when the number of problem reports far exceeds the usual daily average, which was clearly the case during this incident.