All Posts in #InternetDisruption

February 7, 2025 - Comments Off on Internet Disruptions and Shutdowns In January

Internet Disruptions and Shutdowns In January

Between January 11 and February 7, 2025, Pakistan continued to experience internet disruptions and censorship, as well as policy developments that severely impacted digital rights. Major cities like Karachi, Islamabad, and Lahore saw heightened restrictions, with social media throttling and content censorship, particularly during political protests and demonstrations. Journalists and digital rights activists faced increasing pressure as the government introduced stricter regulations on online content.

The passage of a controversial law criminalizing “misleading” online content sparked nationwide protests, led by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). Meanwhile, ongoing internet slowdowns forced several multinational companies to reconsider operations in Pakistan, raising concerns about economic impacts.

January 10, 2025 - Comments Off on Internet Disruptions and Shutdowns In January

Internet Disruptions and Shutdowns In January

Between January 1-10, 2025, Pakistan faced significant internet disruptions across 15 regions, severely impacting connectivity and digital access. Karachi, Islamabad, and Kashmir experienced heavy censorship, including social media bans and throttled internet and data networks. Protests, political events, and security operations drove many shutdowns, with localized disruptions in Gwadar and Swat.

A major submarine cable fault on January 2 caused nationwide slowdowns, crippling e-commerce and affecting critical infrastructure. Despite mitigation efforts, such as additional bandwidth, the incident exposed vulnerabilities within Pakistan's digital infrastructure, emphasizing the urgent need for improved internet stability and protection of digital rights.

January 9, 2025 - Comments Off on WhatsApp, Others Shifting Operations Outside Pakistan

WhatsApp, Others Shifting Operations Outside Pakistan

Constant internet shutdowns and disruptions have led to WhatsApp and other companies to relocate various aspects of their technical operations outside of Pakistan, according to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) documentation. WhatsApp, widely used across the world and Pakistan, has had to relocate its Content Delivery Network servers, necessary for enhancing and stabilising traffic performance, outside of the country – a shift that has in turn impacted WhatsApp users in Pakistan and their ability to send and receive messages. This has led to delays for WhatsApp users, and highlights the rising costs – financial and otherwise – of Pakistan’s constant internet shutdowns and overall disruptions.

The shift by WhatsApp, owned by Meta (which also owns Instagram and Facebook) to relocate outside of Pakistan indicates a growing concern by digital service providers as to the unreliably of the country’s infrastructure, even as the nation’s government promotes and aims to ensure investors of more stability.

December 24, 2024 - Comments Off on Govt Introduces new localised VPN Scheme

Govt Introduces new localised VPN Scheme

Unsuccessful in its previous attempts to register and penalise unregistered VPNs, owing to a lack of legal support, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has introduced a new licensing category, in the hope that it will boot registrations of VPNs. According to Dawn, a press release by the PTA states that “VPN service providers are required to obtain Class Licence for Data (Data Services) to provide VPN and related services,” so that local  internet service providers will, in theory, be able to provide VPN and other forms of proxy services to their users.

The “localised” registrations of VPNs was floated by P@SHA, arguing that this would help Pakistan’s freelancers, impacted ongoing internet disruptions. Companies that plan to provide localised VPN services would pay PTA a licence fee – PKR 300,000 to offer nationwide services, PKR 100,000 to do within one province – with the licence lasting 15 years, subject to renewal. As rights activists and tech experts point out, however, the localisation strategy is a “futile exercise”, as it gives more surveillance powers to authorities and negates the whole purpose of VPNs – which could discourage users and international entities, both of whom would just switch to other options.