China is helping Pakistan build a Great Firewall-like internet censorship system – here's what you need to know
Islamabad and Beijing have been working for almost a year on this project, which will considerably boost censorship and surveillance levels in the country. All, while Pakistan VPN usage is increasingly under attack.
- China is building in Pakistan an internet censorship system resembling its infamous Great Firewall
- The two countries have been reportedly working for almost a year on this infrastructure, which can block most foreign websites
- This comes as Pakistan is also actively trying to regulate VPN usage across the country
China seeks to replicate its infamous Great Digital Firewall by helping Pakistan build a similar system for its own means.
As per the latest Intelligence Online report, Islamabad and Beijing have been working for almost a year on this project, which is set to considerably boost censorship and surveillance levels in the country. All this comes as Pakistan has intensified its efforts to regulate the usage of the best VPN services.
The Great Digital Firewall of Pakistan
While the likes of Russia and Iran have been boosting their national internet capabilities lately, China's Great Digital Firewall remains the most successful example of a sovereign internet infrastructure. This is exactly what Chinese companies are now helping Islamabad build – the Great Digital Firewall of Pakistan.
Such a system is expected to block most foreign websites, de facto increasing current censorship levels in the country. It's worth reminding that Pakistanis cannot access all main social media platforms without a virtual private network at the time of writing, with X being blocked since February 2024.
While the Pakistan government said this infrastructure "would only be used to protect two strategic data exchange points on the national network," as reported by Intelligence Online, authorities will be able to activate the firewall when needed.
Allegations about Pakistan using Chinese censorship and surveillance tech aren't new, though. Al Jazeera reported in November last year, in fact, about some secret tests of China-like ‘firewall’ tools to monitor online traffic and regulate the use of popular apps.
Such a system "has the ability to block VPNs," too – a Ministry of Defence official, familiar with the new deployments, told Al Jazeera at the time.
P@SHA sounds the alarm!
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