People in Pakistan could soon lose access to their VPN apps as the government sets the deadline for November 30, 2024, to implement a new policy regulating VPN usage.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is urging businesses and freelance workers to register their VPN services before the end of the month to avoid disruptions. The debate is still ongoing on whether or not commercial VPNs should also be blocked.
What's certain is that residents increasingly rely 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 boost their online privacy.
Crackdown on "unregistered VPNs"
The new directive doesn't come as a surprise. The government first shared plans to regulate the use of VPNs back in August, in fact, to curb VPN misuse. Authorities have also deemed unregistered VPNs a "security risk" for Pakistan as they can be used to access "sensitive data."
VPN usage is still permitted in Pakistan for legitimate purposes. These include banking, foreign missions, corporate enterprises, universities, IT companies, call centers, and freelance professionals.
"We don't say block the VPNs, but to regulate the VPNs. If somebody needs a VPN for business purposes, for some positive use, nobody will stop him, let me reassure you, we will facilitate him," said PTA chairman Major General (r) Hafeezur Rehman on Thursday at the Youth Safety Summit Pakistan conference organized together 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 usage at risk for all?
As the deadline approaches, digital rights experts are worried that the new policy could negatively affect Pakistanis' rights to privacy, free speech, and free access to information.
As the Pakistani English-speaking publication Dawn reported at the beginning of the week, Rehman told the Senate that the PTA was only registering commercial VPNs. Nonetheless, "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 TechRadar that, at the moment, it is still difficult to determine the impact such a plan will have on consumers. "It's still unclear how it will be implemented in practice if implemented at all," he added.
The best VPN apps are security software that encrypts your internet connections to prevent snooping. They also spoof your real IP address location to boost anonymity and grant access to otherwise geo-restricted content.
However, according to Malinauskas, it seems that the government aims 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, in fact, Pakistan's top religious body said that using a VPN service to access blocked content goes against Islamic law, calling for a ban. The Ministry of Interior also called to block all "illegal" VPNs, claiming that terrorists use these tools.
"This further contributes to a worrying trend of internet censorship and limitation of people’s digital rights in Pakistan," said Malinauskas.
As Surfshark's Internet Shutdown Tracker shows, Pakistan imposed six nationwide internet restrictions in 2024 alone. Many popular social media apps cannot be accessed without a VPN until this day.
Instagram was the first to be blocked in May 2023, X went dark starting in February this year, and then Facebook in July. Authorities also blocked Bluesky on Thursday as the platform gained momentum worldwide as X's alternative.
