Govt to Regulate VPN in Pakistan with New Whitelisting Policy

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has announced plans to regulate the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) in the country. PTA Chairman Maj General (retd) Hafeezur Rehman revealed these plans during a recent Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat meeting.

Under the new policy, only VPNs that are whitelisted by the PTA will be allowed to operate in Pakistan, with all other VPNs being blocked. Rehman noted that while only 30% of Pakistani users accessed X (formerly Twitter) via VPNs, the overall use of X has decreased by 70%. The demand for VPNs has surged following the platform’s ban.

Rehman stated that the PTA would consider reopening X if the government requests it and indicated that the platform has addressed only 7% of complaints in the past three months. In contrast, TikTok has been more compliant with Pakistani laws.

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He warned that a total ban on VPNs could severely impact Pakistan’s IT industry, potentially leading to the collapse of businesses dependent on VPNs. Previous attempts to regulate VPNs through registration requirements have seen limited success.

The PTA Chairman also mentioned that the authority could impose a blanket ban or block social media platforms like Facebook or X if they host controversial or anti-state content, as it is challenging to target specific posts.

Whitelisting VPNs will involve a lengthy process, potentially taking two to three years, as it requires extensive registration and approval by the regulator.