Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has started blocking free and unregistered virtual private networks.
According to a report, it has started temporarily blocking free and unregistered VPNs.
PTA has issued a registration requirement for users to use VPN along with ending the free VPN services available on the internet. The PTA says that unregistered VPNs in Pakistan are a security risk as they can access private information or illegal content.
The authority’s job is to protect users’ data and prevent access to illegal content. VPN registrations started in 2010 and over the past fourteen years, approximately 20,500 VPNs have been registered.
So far more than 1422 companies have registered VPNs. The PTA further said that the authority wants to speed up the process of VPN registration and whitelisting. China, Russia, Iran, Turkey, and other countries have blocked unregistered VPNs.
The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia have also started blocking unregistered ones, and a few countries allow virtual private networks for business use only. PTA sources say that there is no restriction on VPNs for business use in Pakistan.
It should be noted that on Sunday, Internet users across Pakistan complained about the shutdown of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), saying that access to social media and other websites running through their ‘VPNs’ has become impossible on Sunday.
