In Pakistan, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is now commencing nationwide blocking of unregistered VPNs. According to PTA sources, unregistered VPNs are being temporarily disabled for whitelisting by a firewall.
PTA is blocking unregistered VPNs as they are a security issue since they can access private information and inappropriate or unlawful content, according to PTA sources. The PTA is in charge of safeguarding organizational and public data as well as blocking access to unlawful content.
Sources at PTA claim that VPN registration started in 2020. Also, in the past 14 years, approximately 20,500 VPNs have been registered. To date, over 1,422 businesses have registered VPNs.
The regulator also wants to expedite the VPN whitelisting and registration process, according to sources. Unregistered VPNs have been prohibited by nations like China, Russia, Iran, Turkey, and others. Some nations only permit VPNs for business purposes, and the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia further prohibit unregistered VPNs. According to PTA authorities, VPN use for business purposes is unrestricted in Pakistan.
Notably, for some hours, customers in Pakistan have been complaining about problems with free VPNs. To access the social media site X, many users rely on free VPNs; however, they are now alleging that these services aren’t functioning.
Notably, Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, has outlawed the usage of X in his country. However, he often uses a VPN to post on X in violation of this ban.
Questions concerning the VPN shutdown were not answered by the PTA spokeswoman when asked about the VPN restriction.
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