What Sites Are Blocked in Pakistan?

In Pakistan, many websites are blocked by Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). They build a nationwide URL Filtering and Blocking System that is similar to China’s Great Firewall.

There are some examples of Pakistan's national blocking of popular sites and applications in the world.

From 2012 - 2016, YouTube was blocked in Pakistan because the platform contains blasphemous videos or anti-Islamic films. The long ban was lifted officially after YouTube launched a custom version for Pakistan in September 2016.

The long ban was lifted officially after YouTube launched a custom version for Pakistan in September 2016.

On 19 and 20 May 2010, PTA imposed a ban on Wikipedia, YouTube, Flickr, and Facebook to respond to the blasphemous content. After these sites removed the content at the demand of the government, the ban was lifted on 27 May 2010.

On 16 April 2021, Pakistan restricted access to Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube from 11:00 AM to 03:00 PM. This is said to maintain public order and security in Pakistan.

TikTok was banned for immoral content on 9 October 2020. The ban was canceled on 20 October 2020 after TikTok removed the content.

In July 2020, PTA banned PUBG, the online game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. However, a large number of PUBG users protested on the Internet. Realizing people's support for PUBG, PTA lifted the ban.

Except for these temporary bans mentioned above, Pakistan also imposed many permanent bans on some sites and apps.

Since November 2011, Pakistan has banned over 1,200,000 porn sites. Child pornography is illegal in Pakistan. According to Pakistani laws, the actions involved in child pornography and child sexual abuse will be subjected to 14-20 years and a fine of 1 million Rupees.

Plus, Torrenting is not legal in Pakistan. ISPs blocked torrent sites including Piratebay, Kickass torrents, Torrentz, Bitsnoop, Extra Torrent and Torrent Reactor. The popular BitTorrent client – μTorrent is also banned in this country.

Does Pakistan Allow VPNs?

To access these sites in this country, you will need a VPN for Pakistan. A VPN transfers your internet traffic through an encrypted tunnel. Theoretically, no third parties including ISPs can see your online activities.

For people in Pakistan, a VPN lets you regain access to the blacklisted apps, including uTorrent, Telegram, and thousands of porn sites. For those who want to travel to Pakistan, you’d better install one or two Pakistan VPN apps in advance.

PAY ATTENTION that you should always keep an eye on the country's VPN policy.

Know that the Pakistani government monitors people's use of VPNs. In June 2020, PTA asked internet users to register VPNs with the telecom authorities to avoid the ban on virtual private networks after June 30.

This means you can use VPNs in Pakistan for daily life and work needs. But you should avoid doing criminal activities, subversive statements and actions against the government and military, blasphemy, etc.These may cause you trouble.

If you want to look for a good-to-use VPN for Pakistan, you have these options.

PandaVPN is my favorite one, offering 3000+ servers in 170+ server locations in 80+ countries and containing 1 virtual server in Pakistan. It charges $2.49/month for a 12+12 months subscription plan. Luckily, Android users can get a 3-day free trial with no credit card and you don't need to pay in advance.

ExpressVPN and VyprVPN also provide thousands of global servers and include 1 Pakistani server. The former one costs $6.67 per month and the latter one costs $8.33 per month.

In Pakistan, we don't encourage you to choose a free VPN that can't guarantee security and speed.

Good luck!