The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has extended the deadline for the registration of virtual private networks (VPNs). The extension was confirmed on Saturday by PTA Chief Hafeez ur Rehman, without a new deadline being announced.
Last week, the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (WISPAP) urged the Ministry of Interior to extend the deadline for VPN registration. The official scrutiny around VPNs has attracted widespread attention, with regular users, journalists, rights advocates and other stakeholders condemning the move and raising concerns over increased online monitoring.
Earlier, the telecom regulator informed the Senate that VPNs would stop working after November 30. He said the authority was blocking only those VPNs that were being used by businesses (or “commercial” VPNs).
The ones being used by individuals would not be suspended, he added. The PTA chief did, however, warn people not to access blocked content using VPNs.
The use of VPNs surged in the country after the government blocked X (formerly Twitter), a little over a week after the February 8 general elections.
Throughout the year, more and more users turned to VPN for regular internet usage, as other platforms, particularly Instagram and Facebook, kept facing frequent disruptions and outages, too.
Over the past month, users across the country complained repeatedly about not being able to connect to their VPNs, which was ascribed to trials of the widely speculated “national firewall” by the government.
The PTA has set up an online portal for the registration of VPNs. According to the telecom regulator, VPNs are being whitelisted for “smooth and secure of the IT services and online businesses”.
