Messaging app WhatsApp has become the latest platform to be swallowed by a wave of crackdowns by the Pakistani government, leading to a surge in demand for the best VPNs.

Reports of problems with WhatsApp began on Saturday, November 23, and the disruption continued through the weekend and into Monday, November 25. At the time of this writing, it is unknown if the problem still exists.

According to the real-time failure monitor Downdetector, failure reports spiked from the night of November 24 to the morning of November 25. Problems with sending and receiving voice memos and messages occurred on both the WhatsApp mobile and web apps.

Internet and cybersecurity watchdog group NetBlocks also reported outages beginning November 23. [The WhatsApp problems occurred on the eve of political protests led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan and supporters of his political party, the PTI. Khan is currently imprisoned on charges of corruption and leaking state secrets.

As AP News reported, the government has declared that areas of security concern will be shut down for cell phone and Internet service in advance of the expected disruptions. The government did not specify which areas would be affected and for how long.

According to Downdetector, reports of outages are primarily from the Punjab region of Pakistan, which is seen as strongly supportive of PTI. Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, is located in this region and is currently sealed off. Former Prime Minister Khan is currently imprisoned in Rawalpindi, and massive power outages have been reported in this city as well.

In addition, data from VPN Demand Statistics, operated by Top10VPN, shows a 102% increase in VPN demand in Pakistan on November 25.

This is not the first time Pakistanis have experienced Internet shutdowns and restrictions on social media apps.

Between November 9 and 10, Pakistan experienced a VPN shutdown, and the Proton VPN Observatory reported a significant spike in VPN usage. The observatory, run by the developers of one of the most secure VPNs, Proton VPN, reported a 350% increase in VPN signups over the past two days; there are reports that a second VPN shutdown is scheduled to begin on November 25, but this has not yet been confirmed This has not yet been confirmed.

After this shutdown, the country announced that it would ban all non-commercial VPNs, leaving only registered VPNs. People and businesses have until November 30 to register their VPNs, which were supposed to be “non-Islamic,” but this was later proven false.

Other social media apps have also been targeted, including X (formerly Twitter) and its supposed successor Bluesky. Both apps are banned, but government ministers and ministries nonetheless tweet from official X accounts.

WhatsApp can technically still be accessed via VPN, but this may violate Pakistani law.

There are alternative secure messaging apps, notably Telegram and Signal, which are among the best encrypted messaging apps. Comparing the two, Signal offers more privacy when it comes to messaging.

Signal messages are encrypted end-to-end by default, but cannot be accessed without switching to Telegram's secret chat mode; Signal is user-friendly and can be used on mobile or desktop; Signal accounts can be migrated from one Android device to another and from one iOS device to another. Also, if you change your phone number, you can keep your Signal account as long as your mobile device is the same.

Signing up for Signal requires a phone number, which is Signal's only drawback, and Telegram's as well; Telegram has more features than Signal and is its own social media platform. However, as noted above, Telegram chats are not encrypted by default, and chats with more than two participants are not encrypted end-to-end.

Those affected by the WhatsApp outage in Pakistan and who wish to ensure the privacy of their messages should consider alternative messaging apps that offer secure encryption.

The restrictions on WhatsApp are an example of the government's increased regulation of Internet use in Pakistan and are a cause for concern and will be monitored closely.