Reports emerge of nationwide VPN access ‘restrictions, throttling’

Multiple internet users in Pakistan reported on Sunday they were experiencing “restricted access” to virtual private networks (VPNs), alongside poor internet connectivity.

VPNs are widely used around the world to access content that may be inaccessible or blocked for internet users in their home country. In the case of Pakistanis, VPNs are used to access X, among other restricted websites.

In August, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) was clamping down on VPN usage, aiming to prevent access to the already banned social media platform X.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in September that X had been banned due to national security issues, not to curb freedom of expression. He added that “separatists and terrorists” were using the platform against Pakistan, which could not be allowed.

In the same month, the PTA dispelled rumours and clarified that VPNs in the country were not being blocked.

However, multiple X users in Pakistan took to the platform on Sunday and said that VPNs were being slowed down and access was being restricted.

According to the outage tracking website Downdetector, users reported outages on VPN services VPN Unlimited and Tunnelbear, with nearly all reported issues related to connecting to a virtual private network.

A graph on the site shows that VPN Unlimited users were still reporting problems, with a peak of 10 reports submitted by 6:15pm. Similarly, Tunnelbear users submitted reports as late as 7:29pm.

Dawn.com has approached the PTA for comment on the outages.

Some X users resorted to publishing posts listing VPN services that are still functional in Pakistan.

Some Dawn.com staff also experienced issues when connecting to VPN services. It, however, worked for others.

Digital rights advocate Farieha Aziz told Dawn.com that she was experiencing issues connecting to VPNs Cloudflare and Orbot, adding that she had been experiencing “very patchy internet”.

Speaking about the throttling, she said, “It’s completely arbitrary, disrupting everyday life and work and no one in the PTA and government has yet given a straight answer — other than partially on VPNs which they have stated they are in the process of registering.”

Digital rights activist Usama Khilji told Dawn.com that he “checked with people” who confirmed they are experiencing errors with their VPN services.

“This is in line with the state’s plans to clamp down on VPNs and enforce strict censorship and surveillance over citizens,” Khilji said. “This will have an adverse impact on businesses, especially financial and tech-related industry.”