Pakistan starts VPN registration amid slow Internet speeds
The government has previously blamed a surge in the use of VPNs and damaged underwater cables for the slowdown in the South Asian country
ISLAMABAD ( WEB NEWS )
Pakistan has started registering virtual private networks (VPNs) to facilitate businesses and foreign missions in their “legitimate, secure and uninterrupted operations,” the country’s telecom regulator said on Friday.
Millions of Pakistanis have faced a mysterious months-long Internet slowdown that has drawn backlash from activists and business leaders who believe the state is testing a firewall to control online spaces. The Pakistani government has previously blamed a surge in the use of VPNs and damaged underwater cables for the slowdown whilst also admitting that the country was “undergoing a transition.”
The minister in-charge of the cabinet division, who is technically the prime minister, this month admitted to using a Web Monitoring System that utilizes peep packet inspection technology to detect and block VPN traffic and allows the government to monitor all Internet traffic entering or leaving Pakistan, according to a written response dated Aug. 26 to a question by Pakistani lawmaker Shahida Rehmani and seen by Arab News.
“To facilitate businesses of software houses, call centers, freelancers and foreign missions/embassies for their legitimate, secure and uninterrupted operations, VPNs are being registered under ‘one window’ operations available at PTA and PSEB (Pakistan Software Export Board) website,” the PTA said on Friday.
“It is an ongoing activity which is being continuously streamlined by PTA, MoIT (Ministry of Information Technology), PSEB and P@SHA (Pakistan Software Houses Association). Over 20,000 IPs (Internet Protocol addresses) have been registered for VPNs since 2020.”
The Internet challenges come as Pakistan’s military — the country’s most powerful institution — says it is battling so-called “digital terrorism.” Independent analysts say the main target of the digital disruption is the party of jailed opposition leader Imran Khan, still wildly popular and boosted by a young, tech-savvy voter base.
But State Minister for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja has repeatedly said the government was not behind the Internet slowdown, blaming it on a surge in VPN use. She has also rejected that the planned firewall will be used for censorship purposes.
Pakistan is banking on its nascent but growing IT industry to increase its exports and generate critical foreign exchange revenue for a cash-strapped country.
“Without immediate and decisive action, the country risks deeper economic fallout and a prolonged digital divide,” Shahzad Arshad, chairman of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, said in a statement this week.