Islamabad, 2 August (TDI): Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Major General Retired Hafeez ur Rehman has said that Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) could be banned in the country on the orders of the government. This however, may damage the growth of the IT industry in the country.
The PTA chief made these remarks while briefing a Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat recently.
“VPNs can be blocked in the country on the orders of the government, but it will lead to the collapse of several IT businesses that operate on VPNs”.
Similar concerns were raised by a digital media expert, Sundas, who said the ban on X has already affected her business and that banning VPNs would further damage it.
“I tried to run ads multiple times to grow the account but ads always got stuck into pending as X is already banned in Pakistan, now these people will ban VPN too which means no access to X for Pakistanis at all! This is 21st century and this is freedom of speech! Shame!,” she wrote on X.
Best options: Regulate VPNs
The PTA chief suggested that the best option was to regulate proxy networks, and a plan was being devised in this regard.
“The government plans to whitelist some proxy networks while blocking others, after which only whitelisted VPNs would function in Pakistan,” he told the committee.
The government has repeatedly attempted to do so by registering them but failed in any tangible action. The telecom watchdog also passed VPN regulations in 2010, but their implementation remained evasive.
In 2022, the PTA urged public and private sector organisations, foreign missions, and freelancers to register their VPNs in order to avoid any disruption.
Pakistan has witnessed a significant spike in the use of VPNs after X (formerly Twitter) was blocked in the country post-2024 general elections. According to Top10VPN, an independent VPN review website, the demand for VPNs has surged by 131% since X was blocked.
In a notification, issued on February 19, but made public on April 17, the government cited national security and X’s refusal to comply with the removal and blocking of unlawful online content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguards) Rules 2021 (RBUOC Rules).
However, it appears no one in the government, including the Prime Minister and his cabinet members, cares about “national security” as they have all been posting on the platform, apparently using VPNs.
Most recently, on July 31, PM Shehbaz Sharif reflected on Madr-e-Millat Fatima Jinnah’s contributions during the struggle for independence on X.
While celebrating Madr-e-Millat Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah’s birth anniversary, we reflect on her significant contributions alongside our esteemed founder, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, during the struggle for independence. Her commitment to promoting democracy was both…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) July 31, 2024
X users drop 70 percent
Despite a surge in the usage of VPNs, the number of X users in Pakistan has decreased by 70 percent since February 19, according to the PTA chief.
Read more: Pakistan’s Twitter Blockage, 70% of Users Cut Off
Rahmani also highlighted that the number of X users in Pakistan is much lower than other social media platforms. For instance, Pakistan had only 4.5 million X users compared to 44.5 million Facebook users in early 2024, as reported by DataReportal.
It indicates that the use of proxy networks has broader applications than getting around blocked websites like X. Any attempt to regulate the use of VPNs in Pakistan would affect the IT sector which uses it for various purposes
 Major General Retired Hafeez ur Rehman has said that.....read more){kind=link}