Govt to regulate use of VPNs through whitelisting, says PTA

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has announced plans to regulate the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) in Pakistan.

The development was disclosed by PTA Chairman Maj General (retd) Hafeezur Rehman during a recent meeting with the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat.

Rehman explained that the new policy would allow only whitelisted VPNs to operate in Pakistan, blocking all others.

He disclosed that only 30 per cent of Pakistani users were accessing X through VPN and usage of X had been reduced by 70 per cent. However, the demand for VPNs has increased in Pakistan after the ban on X. 

The PTA chairman claimed the authority would open the X platform when the government would request and allow it. 

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He also revealed that X platform took action on the complaints by 7 per cent only in the last three months. 

TikTok took action on complaints and complied with the Pakistani laws the most. On the other hand, X complied with Pakistani laws the least. 

Rehman cautioned that a complete ban on VPNs could have severe implications for Pakistan’s IT industry, potentially causing the collapse of several businesses that rely on VPNs for operations.

Past attempts by the government to regulate VPNs through registration requirements have had limited success.

The PTA chairman also reiterated that the authority could blanket ban or block the social media platforms, Facebook or X on controversial and anti-state content, as it was not possible to block specific posts.

Whitelisting is a process through which citizens and organisations register themselves to an authorised regulator to use and access social media through VPNs.

According to sources, VPN whitelisting could take two to three years as it’s an exhaustive process.