Despite government efforts to restrict access to explicit content, Pakistanis are attempting up to two million times a day to reach blocked websites through unregistered virtual private networks (VPNs), sources told Geo News.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has ramped up its efforts to block such sites, having already restricted over 844,000 immoral websites and more than 100,000 explicit URLs. Due to the frequent use of unregistered VPNs to bypass these blocks, complaints regarding slow VPN speeds have increased. As a result, the PTA has started blocking unauthorized VPNs, citing security concerns and the risk of unauthorized access to illegal content.
Sources revealed that the PTA is working to fast-track the whitelisting process for authorized VPN services to address these issues. PTA officials emphasized that unregistered VPNs pose significant security threats by potentially exposing sensitive data, and they have temporarily restricted certain VPN services to facilitate their registration.
Since 2010, when the VPN registration process began, over 20,500 VPNs have been registered, involving more than 1,400 companies. The PTA is working to accelerate this compliance process.
Many users have reported disruptions in free VPN services, which affect secure browsing. PTA officials assured that efforts are underway to streamline the VPN registration process while blocking illegal access. VPNs are widely used around the world to bypass content restrictions.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs has recently urged the PTA to block and restrict access to harmful content, including pornographic and blasphemous material. In a letter to the PTA, the Ministry expressed concern that Pakistan has become one of the leading countries for viewing pornographic content, which it views as detrimental to public morality and societal well-being.
The PTA has been active in blocking URLs related to “anti-Islam, indecent, and immoral” content, with about 1.3 million URLs blocked as of July 2024. A report shared with the Peshawar High Court revealed that the PTA’s web monitoring system had processed 1.38 million URLs, blocking 93.84% due to inappropriate content. Among the blocked URLs, 1.02 million were categorized under “decency and immorality,” with others relating to security issues, defamation, sectarian hate speech, and contempt of court.
Significant numbers of URLs have also been blocked on platforms like Facebook (147,569), TikTok (125,600), and Twitter (53,872). Since 2020, TikTok has removed more than 113,000 items deemed immoral or anti-Islamic, with 24,800 removals in 2024 alone.
