Islamabad: In an important milestone in its ongoing campaign against illegal internet content, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has blocked over 900,000 links to websites that include inflammatory and pornographic content.
PTA is increasing its monitoring of websites that spread objectionable material and implementing policies to limit access to these websites. Blocking sites reported by the public and government agencies is part of this endeavor.
Pakistan continues to rank among the top nations for attempts to access pornographic information online, according to a PTA official.
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The spokesman added that VPNs are frequently used to get around these limitations. “Nearly 20 million attempts are blocked daily at the international gateway.”
PTA verified that, according to data from continuous monitoring operations, it has blacklisted 844,008 pornographic websites and 100,183 “blasphemous” URLs.
PTA statistics show that despite these efforts, there are still a lot of people trying to obtain pornographic material every day—roughly 20 million Pakistani users.
Despite the fact that many websites are prohibited by international gateways, some users use virtual private networks (VPNs) to get around these limitations.
PTA has stated that its systems are built to withstand high levels of web filtering and has reaffirmed its dedication to removing objectionable content in conjunction with technical and legal assistance. Since 2018, 844,000 pornographic websites have been subject to restrictions, according to PTA data.
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Because of the enormous number of VPNs being used, PTA is considering other ways to deal with internet filter circumvention while adhering to global regulatory norms.
In Pakistan, X and other blocked websites are frequently accessed with VPNs.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) stepped up its efforts to limit VPN use in August, aiming to restrict access to X, which is still prohibited in the country.