ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has started registering virtual private networks (VPNs) to facilitate businesses and foreign missions in their “legitimate, secure and uninterrupted operations,” the country’s telecom regulator said on Friday.
Millions of Pakistanis have faced a mysterious months-long Internet slowdown that has drawn backlash from activists and business leaders who believe the state is testing a firewall to control online spaces. The Pakistani government has previously blamed a surge in the use of VPNs and damaged underwater cables for the slowdown whilst also admitting that the country was “undergoing a transition.”
The minister in-charge of the cabinet division, who is technically the prime minister, this month admitted to using a Web Monitoring System that utilizes peep packet inspection technology to detect and block VPN traffic and allows the government to monitor all Internet traffic entering or leaving Pakistan, according to a written response dated Aug. 26 to a question by Pakistani lawmaker Shahida Rehmani and seen by Arab News.
“To facilitate businesses of software houses, call centers, freelancers and foreign missions/embassies for their legitimate, secure and uninterrupted operations, VPNs are being registered under ‘one window’ operations available at PTA and PSEB (Pakistan Software Export Board) website,” the PTA said on Friday.
“It is an ongoing activity which is being continuously streamlined by PTA, MoIT (Ministry of Information Technology), PSEB and P@SHA (Pakistan Software Houses Association). Over 20,000 IPs (Internet Protocol addresses) have been registered for VPNs since 2020.”
The Internet challenges come as Pakistan’s military — the country’s most powerful institution — says it is battling so-called “digital terrorism.” Independent analysts say the main target of the digital disruption is the party of jailed opposition leader Imran Khan, still wildly popular and boosted by a young, tech-savvy voter base.
But State Minister for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja has repeatedly said the government was not behind the Internet slowdown, blaming it on a surge in VPN use. She has also rejected that the planned firewall will be used for censorship purposes.
Pakistan is banking on its nascent but growing IT industry to increase its exports and generate critical foreign exchange revenue for a cash-strapped country.
“Without immediate and decisive action, the country risks deeper economic fallout and a prolonged digital divide,” Shahzad Arshad, chairman of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, said in a statement this week.
Pakistan starts VPN registration amid slow Internet speeds
https://arab.news/phnqd
Pakistan starts VPN registration amid slow Internet speeds
- Millions of Pakistanis have faced a mysterious months-long Internet slowdown that has drawn backlash from activists and business leaders
- The government has previously blamed a surge in the use of VPNs and damaged underwater cables for the slowdown in the South Asian country
Pakistan cricket chief says boycott of India match aimed at restoring Bangladesh’s dignity
- Mohsin Naqvi says Pakistan sought to highlight Bangladesh’s grievances in World Cup dispute
- His comments come a day after Pakistan reversed decision to boycott the Feb. 15 India clash
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s decision to briefly threaten a boycott of its Twenty20 World Cup match against India was intended to highlight what it saw as unfair treatment of Bangladesh and to press for the concerns raised by Bangladeshi officials to be addressed, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi said on Tuesday.
Pakistan withdrew its decision a day earlier to skip the Group A clash scheduled for Feb. 15 in Colombo, ending a week-long standoff with the International Cricket Council (ICC) that had drawn intervention from several member boards amid fears of disruption to the tournament.
“Our objective was only to ensure that Bangladesh was treated with dignity and that the injustice done to them was highlighted,” Naqvi told journalists in Peshawar. “You saw that whatever points Bangladesh raised were accepted. That’s it. We had no personal agenda of our own in this.”
Bangladesh had raised security concerns about playing its World Cup matches in India amid political tensions between the two countries and sought the relocation of its fixtures to Sri Lanka, a request that was turned down by the ICC. Subsequently, Bangladesh chose to withdraw from the tournament and were replaced by Scotland instead.
Pakistan cited Bangladesh’s removal from the original schedule as unjust when it initially instructed its team not to face India, a move that would have resulted in a forfeiture.
The decision led to a crisis situation since the India-Pakistan match is the biggest and most lucrative clash in the world of cricket, leading to a frantic weekend of negotiations.
The reversal allows Pakistan to proceed with the marquee India match after Bangladesh’s concerns were accommodated by the ICC, Naqvi said.
Pakistan, who edged past the Netherlands in their opening game, face the United States today in Group A, with India set to travel to Colombo for the Feb. 15 clash.
Pakistan and India, bitter political rivals, have not played bilateral cricket for more than a decade and meet only at global tournaments at neutral venues.
