LAHORE
Using religion as a pretext, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) condemned the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) adding to the statement by the Interior Ministry issued on Friday. The Ministry had directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block ‘illegal VPNs’ nationwide; the CII termed them ‘un-Islamic’ and anti-Sharia.
Friday morning saw a directive issued by the Ministry of Interior that said that VPNs were being misused by terrorists who were using it to ‘facilitate violent activities and financial transactions’.
According to the government statement, VPNs were also being used to ‘discreetly view blasphemous material as well as pornography’.
“Pakistan is considered as one of the countries where porn sites are frequently visited by using VPNs, however, these trends warrant 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.”
MINISTRY OF INTERIOR
Supporting the decision made by the government, the government possessed the authority to prevent access to immoral content and harmful material “from an Islamic perspective.”
Raghib Hussain Naeemi emphasized that such measures to block or limit access to “unethical and offensive content” aligned with Sharia, and that the CII praised this step.
“Using VPNs to access illegal content or blocked websites is unlawful under Islamic law,” he said.
Naeemi added that it is the government’s “duty” to impose restrictions on means that undermine societal values and legal compliance. He noted that VPNs are primarily used to access prohibited websites blocked by the government. He explained that VPNs helped in concealing the true identity and location of users. “According to Islamic principles, the legality of any action depends on its purpose and method.”
It’s actually hilarious that they got the Council of Islamic Ideology to issue a statement against VPNs 😂
How desperate can this PML-N led martial law regime get?
— Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) November 15, 2024
Adding to this he also said that online theft could also be the result of VPNs. Using VPNs for the “assistance of sin” was prohibited by Sharia and it was the “duty of every Muslim” not to let anything conflict with Islamic principles.
Naeemi said that the Council had presented recommendations about the misuse of social media in a meeting in May 2023. Among these recommendations was a call for the PTA and the Federal Investigation Agency to expedite the registration process for social media websites.
While the Ministry has given time till November 30 to register VPNs with the government, the Council has urged immediate action to block VPNs.
According to the government notification, registration of VPNs with PTA may be made till November 30.
Speaking to Voicepk, digital rights expert Farieha Aziz questioned under what law this ban had taken place?
“The first thing I have with respect to this notification is under what law and what authorization are they doing this?” she asked. “The justifications they have presented us with – terrorist activities, blasphemous content, pornography – this is nothing new, we have been hearing this for over a decade. We heard this when YouTube was banned, when PECA was introduced, website blocking was introduced…its all been justified. Its so disingenuous, like a ‘devil’s refuge’, so to speak.”
What Will The Government Use?
Aziz said that the government was trying to exert control and giving narrative justifications for it.
“VPNs are a corporate norm and are globally used for data privacy, communication and security,” she added. “Everyone uses VPNs but here they are being used for circumvention as many websites including X are banned. The question is are the ministers going to stop using VPNs now that it is ‘immoral’ and ‘illegal’ following the CII ‘fatwa‘, and will they stop posting, like they want everyone else to do?”
Aziz expressed his disdain for the narrative.
“This obsession with obscenity and immorality is all just in their heads,” she said. “These services are used for so many other things. You cannot be speaking of a digital Pakistan and a digital economy and then continue with these absurd policies.”
She said the government was making a laughing stock of itself and the country and disrupting daily lives and livelihoods of people
In Pakistan, the surge in use of VPN occurred since the General Elections in February 2024 after which X (Twitter) was blocked by the government.
Users on X were incensed over the ban of VPNs. One of them expressed that there was hypocrisy on part of the government.
If they are blocking VPNs to try to curb the use of X in #Pakistan, then this is a shameful thing because our own Govt officials use X through VPN.
And using Islam to justify your actions is just shameful on another level.
If X is illegal, govt too should stop using it.#vpns pic.twitter.com/OHzU7zp89L
— Ibrahim’s Insights 🇵🇸 (@iamibrah3m) November 15, 2024
Journalists also condemned the way the issue was being spun.
🚨🚨
Country ruled by jokers and clowns ensuring #Pakistan become a laughing stock for the world, now so called COUNCIL OF ISLAMIC IDEOLOGY issues decree that “use of VPN is un-Islamic.” pic.twitter.com/HdnZAZL47J
— Asad Ali Toor (@AsadAToor) November 15, 2024
یہی کسر باقی تھی ۔۔۔۔جب کسی طرح بات نہ بنے تو مذہبی ٹچ دے دو ۔۔۔۔۔
حد ہے ویسے ۔۔۔۔۔۔
— Farzana Ali (@farzanaalispark) November 15, 2024
In its own statement, the PTA has reportedly blocked over 100,183 sites containing allegedly ‘blasphemous material’ and 844,008 ‘indecent websites’. The authority also noted that around 20 million attempts to access indecent sites are made daily from within the country, all of which are blocked at the international gateway level.