Facebook, Messenger back again on mobile networks after seven hours

Social media platform Facebook has become available for mobile networks in Bangladesh after a seven-hour outage, but Russia-based messaging app Telegram is still down.

Facebook and Messenger were closed for two weeks amid the quota reform movement. The social media platforms and services had returned on Wednesday but the users claimed a Facebook outage once again after 12:30pm on Friday.

Facebook was not accessible through the mobile internet. Telegram was not available either.

Facebook was activated on mobile networks around 7:30pm on Friday. However, both Facebook and Telegram were available through broadband networks during the closure.

The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement platform announced a mass march event across the country on Friday. The event was held in Dhaka and other parts of the country after the Juma prayers. There were reports of a death and several injuries during the nationwide protest programme.

When asked about the suspension of Facebook, Vice Chairman Md Aminul Haque of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission told bdnews24.com at 8:45pm: “I tried to know why it was closed or whether there was a technical glitch. But I could not get it as the office was closed.”

Earlier in the afternoon, he said he did not receive any instructions to turn off Facebook and he was not given such an order either.

Mobile internet services were shut down on Jul 17 when violence sparked surrounding the quota reform protests for government jobs.

Broadband internet service was also halted the following day after the situation worsened on Jul 18.

According to the government, the cables of several internet service providers were burnt after the Disaster Management Building in the capital’s Mohakhali was set on fire amid the protests. Some data centres were also affected due to the fire.

The internet outage was caused by that incident, claims the state minister for ICT.

Due to the nationwide internet outages, users were unable to make financial transactions through their mobile phones. Some even failed to recharge their prepaid cards for electricity and gas. ATM booths were also shut down in several places.

Various e-commerce platforms, clothing sectors, travel agencies, and port operations were halted due to a lack of internet connectivity. Online-based news portals also suffered due to the internet outage.