Islamabad, 30 August 2024 (TDI): The federal government has officially confirmed the installation of a “web monitoring system” to control the dissemination of online content.
Pakistan has been facing the worst internet slowdown – 40 percent slower than normal – since last month, while X (formerly Twitter) has remained blocked since February 2024.
While the opposition blamed the slowdown on the recently installed social media firewall, the government insisted it was due to the submarine cable fault.
However, recently, the government admitted to having installed an internet firewall in the country, calling it the web monitoring system or WMS.
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In a written response to a question by Shahida Rehmani, a lawmaker from Sindh, the Cabinet Division admitted that the government had been using a WMS to scrutinize the internet traffic, and detect and block Virtual Private Network (VPN) traffic.
“PTA has also deployed a WMS for Internet content management within its technical limits, through which applications/websites requiring blocking within Pakistan are blocked,” the written response submitted on August 26 said.
It added that PTA had blocked 2,369 URLs and 183 mobile apps involved in leaking personal data/identity information.
In its response, the Cabinet Division mentioned Clause 37 (1) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 which mandates PTA to block unlawful online content, especially if seen as “necessary in the interest of Defense of Pakistan, Glory of Islam, Contempt of Court, Decency and Morality, Defamation, Child Pornography, Modesty of Natural Person, Dignity of Natural Person, Public Order, Hate Speech, Incitement to an Offense etc.”
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It explained that geo-blocking at the gateway level wasn’t sufficient to stop the objectionable content as users could still access it using a VPN.
The Cabinet Division maintained that internet users bypassing the gateway through VPN are also “bypassing the state policy regarding banned content.”
