Social media platform Facebook and its instant messaging platform Facebook Messenger is reportedly facing outage in the country. Users reported that starting around 5:30 PM today, they were unable to access Facebook and Messenger.

Global outage detecting site DownDetector.com, however, shows that Facebook is not showing any global outage or any other issues, indicating that only local users are facing the problem.

"We're aware that our services have been restricted in Bangladesh. We're working to understand more and hope to have full access restored as soon as possible," said a Facebook spokesperson via their official PR firm in Bangladesh, responding to a query of The Daily Star.

Spokespersons from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, BTRC could not be reached on the phone while filing this report.

Several internet users have also reported experiencing slower internet to The Daily Star. But the daily could not independently verify these claims.

When contacted, Md. Emdadul Hoque, Secretary-General of Internet Service Provider Association of Bangladesh confirmed The Daily Star of not receiving any directive from BTRC regarding the issue. "The ISPs do not know what's going on," said Emdad. "The government has its own national security body to monitor the web and they do have the power to take down specific websites. That's perhaps what's happened with Facebook and Messenger. The slowing down of internet speed could be a side effect of this," he further added.