ISLAMABAD  -  The access to social media platform ‘X’ is likely to face further restrictions in Pakistan as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif administration has decided to block all ‘illegal’ virtual private networks (VPNs) across the country, due to threats to national security.

Meanwhile, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has also declared all those networks being used in accessing “immoral, blasphemous and blocked” content as un-Islamic.

The X (formerly Twitter) is facing a ban in Pakistan since February this year and users have had access to the social media platform through VPNs, meaning its access would be restricted further through the new decision. VPNs are also used to access those websites otherwise blocked in Pakistan, which is a common practice worldwide.

In an official letter, the Ministry of Interior on Friday asked the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the regulator of internet and telecommunication services, to block all “illegal” VPNs across Pakistan, claiming these were increasingly being used by terrorists to facilitate violent activities as well as financial transactions and by individuals to access pornographic sites.

“Of late, an alarming fact has been identified, wherein VPNs are used by terrorists to obscure and conceal their communications,” says the letter sent to the PTA chairman.

“VPNs are also being used to discreetly access pornographic and blasphemous contents.”

The official communication underlined that Pakistan was considered as one of the leading countries in terms of visiting porn sites using VPNs, adding that these trends warranted the prohibition of unauthorized VPNs to address the critical threats.

“It is, therefore, requested to block illegal VPNs across Pakistan so that legitimate/registered VPN users may not be affected,” it said, directing that registration of VPNs with PTA may be made till November 30.

On the other hand, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), the constitutional body that advises the legislature on Islamic laws, Chairman Raghib Hussain Naeemi in a statement declared the use of VPNs un-Islamic.

Shariah gives authority to the state and the government to take measures to prevent or limit access to unethical and blasphemous content, which included the blockage of VPNs, he said, adding that such measures are in accordance with the Islamic laws.

“Using VPNs to access illegal or immoral content is prohibited under the Islamic law.”

Naeemi emphasized it was the government’s duty to impose restrictions on such means and technology that undermine societal values and legal compliance. He noted that VPNs were technically used to hide the identity and location of the user to ensure protection and privacy but mostly they were misused to access those websites that were prohibited under Shariah and existing laws or those had been blocked by the government.

The CII chairman pointed out that VPNs can also be used for online theft, making it difficult to trace the perpetrator.

Using VPNs falls under the category of “assistance in sin,” which is prohibited by Shariah, he said, noting that it was the duty of every Muslim to uphold the Constitution and laws of his country, provided they do not conflict with Islamic principles.

Naeemi mentioned that the Council had presented recommendations regarding the misuse of social media and preventing access to unethical and blasphemous online content during its meeting held on May 30, 2023.

He said that CII had urged the PTA and the Federal Investigation Agency to expedite the registration process for social media websites and to take steps to block all VPNs without delay.

On Wednesday last, the PTA had said that unregistered VPNs would be blocked in the future to curb access to pornographic content, following a disruption that rendered VPNs dysfunctional across the country on Sunday.

In a statement, the authority claimed it had so far blocked 100,183 URLs containing blasphemous content and 844,008 pornographic websites. It claimed that approximately 20 million attempts were being made from within the country to access blocked pornographic websites daily.

The government conducted a six-hour trial over the last weekend by blocking over two dozen VPNs through a recently installed firewall.