China Reportedly Assisting Pakistan in Building a Nationwide Internet Firewall
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- China is reportedly helping Pakistan build a national internet firewall.
- The system may block foreign websites and restrict VPN usage.
- Experts warn it could harm digital freedom and business activity.
China is reportedly helping Pakistan develop a large-scale internet censorship system modeled after China’s own “Great Firewall,” according to a recent report from Intelligence Online. The two countries have allegedly been working on this project for nearly a year, with Chinese tech giants like Huawei playing a role in the system’s development.
This system aims to significantly increase online control in Pakistan by filtering and blocking access to a wide range of foreign websites. While the Pakistani government has publicly stated that the firewall would be limited to protecting two strategic data exchange points on the national network, experts say the system has the potential to be expanded into a full-fledged censorship and surveillance tool.
At the same time, Pakistan has been tightening its grip on VPN usage. Since 2024, the country has seen several instances of VPN disruptions, especially after access to X (formerly Twitter) was blocked in February that year. The Pakistani government blamed VPNs for the massive reduction in internet speed throughout the country.
Pakistan's telecom authority (PTA) first proposed a plan to control unregistered VPNs in August 2024, but it was later shelved due to legal issues. However, in December 2024, a new licensing framework for VPN providers was introduced, showing continued efforts to control VPN usage in the country. Recently, PTA announced that it has issued its first-ever licenses to three VPN companies.
These developments echo similar past concerns. In November 2024, Al Jazeera reported that Pakistan had secretly tested China-like firewall technologies to monitor internet traffic and limit the use of popular apps. According to one unnamed Ministry of Defense official cited in the report, the system can block even the best VPN services entirely.
Pakistan's plan to construct a centralized internet filtering system fits a larger global trend in which nations like Iran and Russia have attempted to establish "sovereign internet" infrastructures. Experts, though, worry about the consequences for business continuity and digital freedom.
In a previous statement, the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) warned about the risks of the country's intention to implement a firewall system: “The imposition of the firewall has triggered a perfect storm of challenges, with prolonged internet disconnections and erratic VPN performance threatening a complete meltdown of business operations.”
As Pakistan continues to strengthen its digital controls with the help of China, questions remain about how this firewall could impact access to information, freedom of expression, and online privacy in the region.
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