The Pakistan Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (PTA) has taken initiatives to restrict the use of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) in the country. Pakistani media Dawn reported this information on Friday.
As part of this initiative, some VPNs will be whitelisted and others will be blocked, the PTA told a parliamentary committee meeting in Pakistan.
In this meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, PTA Chairman Major General (retd) Hafizur Rehman said that after the implementation of this policy, only the VPNs on the official whitelist will work in Pakistan.
In 2024, the use of VPNs among local Internet users has increased significantly. As X (formerly Twitter) has been shut down in the country since February 19, netizens are using this social media platform through VPN.
According to a report by independent VPN review website ToptenVPN, demand for proxy networks or VPNs in Pakistan increased by 131 percent two days after X was blocked.
Surfshark, a VPN service provider, reported a 300 to 400 percent increase in subscribers in the country after Xblocking in Pakistan.
As more people are able to use X via VPN, the effectiveness of the block has been questioned.
However, the PTA chief told the Senate committee that the number of X users in Pakistan has dropped by 70 percent since the block.
The remaining 30 percent of users are using X via VPN, Rehman said.
Compared to other social media, X users are very less in Pakistan. According to Datareportal, at the beginning of 2024, only 4.5 million people were using X in the country.
In response to a question, the PTA chief said that if all types of VPNs are blocked, there will be an adverse reaction on the IT sector of the country. Countless VPN-dependent IT businesses will collapse, he added.
The Pakistani government has tried to regulate the use of VPNs before. But all the initiatives failed.
In 2022, the PTA set rules for government and private organizations, freelancers and foreign missions to register VPNs if needed to facilitate work. However, this initiative failed.
In 2010, the government also introduced the VPN policy. However, it has not yet been fully implemented by the regulatory body.
Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, a member of the committee, said that many social media have been accused of violating Pakistan’s security laws. They have agreed to open an office in the country.
Some companies have offered to open virtual offices in Pakistan.
He also mentioned that 13.2 million people use social media for business, but these platforms do not pay any tax.
He said that tax is collected from social media all over the world and it needs to be implemented in Pakistan as well.
