In response to increasing concerns over online obscenity, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has intensified efforts to block inappropriate content, including hundreds of thousands of pornographic and blasphemous websites.
Acting on concerns raised by the Ministry of Religious Affairs regarding the spread of obscene and blasphemous material, PTA has blocked 844,000 porn sites and 183 URLs containing blasphemous content. The ministry has highlighted the harmful impact of such material on Pakistan’s societal and moral values, urging stronger measures to curb its spread.
PTA reports that approximately 20 million attempts to access porn sites are made daily in Pakistan, primarily through VPNs. These attempts are frequently flagged by government agencies and individuals, prompting PTA to intensify its crackdown on unregistered VPNs, which are considered security risks. These VPNs are temporarily blocked via a firewall until they are officially whitelisted.
Since 2010, the PTA has registered around 20,500 VPNs linked to more than 1,422 companies. Officials have warned that unregistered VPNs pose risks to sensitive data and enable access to illegal content.