People in Pakistan could soon lose access to their VPN apps as the government sets a November 30, 2024 deadline to implement a new policy regulating VPN use.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is urging companies and freelancers to register their VPN services before the end of the month to avoid disruptions. The the debate is still ongoing on whether commercial VPNs should also be blocked.
What is certain is that residents are increasingly relying on Virtual Private Network (VPN) tools as a way to access restricted social media apps like X (formerly Twitter), which has been blocked since February. VPNs are also security software that anyone can use to increase their online privacy.
Crackdown on ‘unregistered VPNs’
The new guideline comes as no surprise. The government first shared plans in August to regulate the use of VPNs, to actually combat VPN abuse. Authorities have done just that considered unregistered VPNs a ‘security risk’ for Pakistan as they could be used to access ‘sensitive data’.
VPN use is still allowed in Pakistan legitimate purposes. These include banking, foreign missions, business enterprises, universities, IT companies, call centers and freelance professionals.
“We are not saying that we should block the VPNs, but that we should regulate the VPNs. If someone needs a VPN for business purposes, for any positive use, no one will stop them. Let me reassure you, we will facilitate them,” said PTA chairman Major. General (r) Hafeezur Rehman on Thursday at the Youth Safety Summit Pakistan conference organized jointly with TikTok and the PTA (see video above).
Rehman also pointed out that PTA issued the first letter for VPN registration almost “15 years ago” in December 2010.
VPN use at risk for everyone?
As the deadline approaches, digital rights experts are concerned that the new policy could negatively impact Pakistanis’ rights to privacy, freedom of expression and free access to information.
Like the Pakistani English publication Dawn reported that Early this week, Rehman told the Senate that the PTA only registered commercial VPNs. Nevertheless, “individuals should not access unauthorized social media apps or websites through VPNs,” he added. Since then, some Pakistani lawmakers have questioned the PTA’s authority to block non-commercial VPNs.
Gytis Malinauskas, head of legal at VPN provider Surfshark, told Ny Breaking that it is still difficult at this point to determine what impact such a plan will have on consumers. “It is still unclear how it will be implemented in practice, if at all,” he added.
Do you know that?
The best VPN apps are security software that encrypts your internet connections to prevent snooping. They also spoof your real IP address location to increase anonymity and grant access to otherwise geo-restricted content.
However, according to Malinauskas, it appears that the government wants to prevent users from accessing certain websites/services by blocking VPN access for people who are not registered as VPN users in Pakistan.
Just a week ago, Pakistan’s top religious body said using a VPN service to access blocked content violates Islamic law and called for a ban. The Interior Ministry also called for all ‘illegal’ VPNs to be blocked, claiming that terrorists are using these tools.
“This further contributes to a worrying trend of internet censorship and restriction of people’s digital rights in Pakistan,” Malinauskas said.
As Surfshark’s Internet Shutdown Tracker shows, Pakistan has imposed six nationwide internet restrictions in 2024 alone. Many popular social media apps are still inaccessible without a VPN to this day.
Instagram was the first to be blocked in May 2023, X went dark from February this year and then Facebook in July. Authorities also blocked Bluesky on Thursday as the platform gained popularity worldwide as an alternative to X.