The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has set a deadline for VPN registration until November 30, PTA Chairman Major General (retd) Hafeezur Rehman Pasha told a Senate panel on Monday.

“After this date, all unregistered VPNs will be blocked,” he said while appearing in the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications.

VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks, are commonly utilised worldwide to bypass restrictions and access blocked content. In Pakistan, users often employ VPNs to visit sites like X and others that are not accessible.

In its earlier statement, the PTA reported that it has blocked over 100,183 URLs that contained blasphemous material, as well as 844,008 indecent websites. The authority also noted that around 20 million attempts to access indecent sites are made daily from within Pakistan, all of which are blocked at the international gateway level.

Last week, the interior ministry instructed the PTA to block “illegal VPNs” throughout Pakistan, alleging their use by terrorists to facilitate violent activities and access indecent and blasphemous content.

PPP Senator Palwasha Khan presided over the Senate panel meeting where lawmakers raised queries related to the crackdown on VPNs. The Senate committee also expressed dismay over the absence of the relevant minister and secretary in a meeting.

At the meeting, the PTA chairman said: “Freelancers using VPNs are at risk of incurring significant losses if they fail to register their services. The lack of registration could lead to an annual loss of up to $400 million for these individuals.”

He informed the panel that the authority was facilitating the VPN registration process, emphasising that the IT industry cannot function “effectively” without VPN access, which is essential for freelancers to conduct their work.

Major (retd) Pasha stated that VPN registration began in 2016, with 25,000 VPNs registered to date. He assured that companies on the whitelist would not face internet disruptions.

PTI Senator Humayun Mohmand expressed concerns that the government was working to block VPNs, specifically mentioning X, erstwhile Twitter. In response, Pasha clarified that X has been restricted in Pakistan since February 2024.

JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza raised questions about internet outages in Balochistan, asking if such disruptions were also related to blasphemy and illegal content. Pasha explained that internet issues in August were due to a “submarine cable problem, but currently, there are no disruptions in Balochistan.”

He added that the interior ministry had issued a written directive to suspend internet services in the province due to security operations.

The PTA chairman added that internet outages are implemented solely upon the interior ministry’s instructions.

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The PTA chief stated that VPNs could be blocked based on their access to “illegal” content. Pasha claimed that the authority had consulted religious scholars to seek their assistance in blocking access to unethical websites.

The committee expressed concern regarding the Council of Islamic Ideology’s declaration that VPNs are “un-Islamic.” The committee chairman said: “Such actions trivialise the religion.”

Additionally, the standing committee directed the PTA chairman to consult with the attorney general for Pakistan regarding the VPN blocking issue.

“The PTA will inform the committee after the consultation. We will convene another meeting before November 30,” panel chairman Palwasha said.