The services of social media platform Facebook and its instant messaging app Messenger are likely to be restored by Saturday or Sunday, says the telecom regulator.

Users in the country are still facing problem in accessing Facebook and Messenger, which went down on Friday afternoon.

Earlier, the Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said that it did not block access to the sites though a spokesperson for the social media giant said that its services have been restricted in the country.

BTRC Vice-Chairman Subrata Roy Maitra on Saturday told Dhaka Tribune that there were still problems in accessing Facebook.

“We are working on it and hopeful that the problems will be resolved by today [Saturday] or tomorrow [Sunday],” he said.

The problems with the social media site coincided with the deadly clashes that occurred on Friday afternoon at places of the country among Islamist groups, police and the ruling party activists.

Activists of the Islamist groups took to the streets protesting against the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in Dhaka Friday morning.    

“It’s not because of that. It’s a technical problem. We do not know what the specific problem is, but access to the sites has not been blocked," Maitra said on Friday when asked whether Facebook access was blocked to stop the spread of rumours following the clashes.

“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,” a Facebook company spokesperson was quoted in a statement sent to the media on Friday by Benchmark PR, its public relations partner in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, users are also having trouble with internet speed while internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile operators said the speed remains down from the international internet gateway (IIG).