ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has reportedly started testing a new national firewall to block unregistered VPNs, with a full-scale crackdown planned for December.
Unregistered VPNs will be blocked the next month after the PTA’s deadline for VPN registration, which is November 30. More than 25,000 VPNs have been added to the registry so far.
The authority’s objective is to streamline the processes of VPN registration as well as whitelisting. Many countries have outright banned VPNs that have not registered, including China, Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Some countries only let VPNs be used for business, and the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia don’t let private VPNs work at all. There are no restrictions on using VPNs for business purposes in Pakistan, according to PTA authorities.
Notably, Pakistani users have been complaining about issues with free VPNs for a few hours now. A lot of people used free VPNs to access the social media site X, but they are now complaining that these services aren’t working anymore.
