ISLAMABAD: Fiverr, the world’s most popular freelancing platform, has reportedly disabled the accounts of many Pakistani freelancers.
On Tuesday, social media users in Pakistan shared several screenshots of Fiverr notifications informing freelancers that their gigs had been deactivated.
In one screenshot that went viral on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, Fiverr informed Pakistani freelancers that their accounts were disabled due to internet service disruptions in the country.
Fiverr’s message to freelancers reads, “We understand that internet services in your area are experiencing disruptions, which have made it difficult for you to continue your activities. However, the delay in your orders may not affect your ratings, so we have temporarily disabled the status of your gigs.”
Fiverr clarified that this move is temporary and will not impact the ratings of Pakistani freelancers. Social media users have been sharing screenshots of this Fiverr message and making various comments.
A user named Noori posted, “The killing of freelancers’ income in Pakistan should stop.”
According to sources, Fiverr automatically disabled gigs for Pakistani freelancers to prevent damage to their response rate and ratings due to the internet shutdown.
Noori further added, “A freelance agency owner told a newspaper that Fiverr has issued notifications to its clients, informing them that freelancers from Pakistan have not met their deadlines due to the suspension of internet services in the country.”
Another user, Ehtsham, wrote, “More than 2.3 million freelancers work in Pakistan. Their source of income relies on the internet, but with frequent outages and slow speeds, their clients are moving to other countries. Now Fiverr has also started warning Pakistani freelancers that their orders may be delayed.”
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Ehtsham continued, “If the government cannot create employment opportunities for the youth, at least do not take away their hard-earned clients.”
A user named Ahsan Wahid wrote, “Fiverr, the world’s largest freelancing platform, has disabled the status of Pakistani profiles.” He also noted that Pakistan’s freelancing community earns more than $500 million annually and is the fourth largest freelancing community globally.
While many users expressed anger over Fiverr’s actions, one user disputed the issue, claiming that “blue-ticked accounts are lying and sharing year-old emails. I just logged into Fiverr without a VPN and had no problems, with the green light showing me online.”
Another user also denied the news, stating that Pakistani freelancers’ accounts were still online.
A few freelancers confirmed to Urdu News that they had received messages on their Fiverr profiles in the past couple of days, stating that their gigs were unavailable.
Freelancers on Fiverr offer their services to clients worldwide by creating gigs. These gigs must be completed within a specified timeframe and at an agreed price, which impacts the freelancer’s rating on Fiverr. Gigs refer to all the services that freelancers market to clients.
Due to internet outages, freelancers have been unable to complete their work on time, harming both themselves and their clients. In turn, clients may leave poor ratings and feedback, damaging freelancers’ reputations and affecting future orders.
To mitigate these issues, Fiverr temporarily disables gigs to prevent both parties from incurring losses.
Looking at the situation from another angle, this move does not significantly harm clients, as they can easily find freelancers from other countries. However, the loss is borne by the affected freelancers themselves.
A screenshot shared by another user on social media revealed the full details of Fiverr’s message, which concludes by stating that if freelancers feel their internet service is stable, they can reactivate their status by following the instructions provided.