Though the VPN ban is no longer workable at this point, however, registrations of VPNs will still continue. Further to this, people in the cities of Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi reported slow and unreliable internet speeds and access, making communications and day to day operations difficult, to the point of frustration – and with businesses worried about potential financial losses.

According to the Economic Times of India, disruptions in regards to Google services, Instagram, Tiktok and other social media platforms were confirmed by the website Downdetector.

Despite a widely publicised push to people in Pakistan to register their VPNs or else face a ban and block of “unregistered” VPNs after the November 30^th deadline, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Pakistan’s telecoms regulatory body, has backed down and withdrawn the threat. According to Dawn News, the PTA made the decision after the Ministry of Law and Justice declared that the government had “no legal standing to block VPNs.” Sources that the outlet spoke with said that,

“There was an interpretation issue with the clauses in the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, and eventually, it has been noted that the reading of the interior ministry in this regard was weak, and the courts would allow the functioning of the VPNs,”

And that the clauses in question permitted the blocking of “content”, but not of applications etc used to access said content, which could lead to legal cases being taken against the government.