Islamabad, Jan 17 (NationPress) Pakistan's surveillance system has dramatically progressed over the past two decades, transitioning from disparate collaborations into a cohesive state-controlled censorship and monitoring framework. This includes practices such as metadata harvesting, device intrusion, Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) filtering, and national-level internet regulation, as reported on Saturday.

The report stated that since 2024, infrastructural, legal, and policy changes have significantly transformed the internet landscape in Pakistan.

“The trajectory of Pakistan's surveillance demonstrates a consistent escalation from initial mass-monitoring to an intricate, multi-layered digital control system. A 2013 report by Citizen Lab revealed the existence of command-and-control servers for FinFisher, a commercial network intrusion malware capable of intercepting communications, accessing private data, and recording audio and video from devices in Pakistan. The server was utilized on a network operated by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), a privatized state entity with 62 percent government ownership,” detailed a report in the European Times.

According to the findings, Pakistan initiated a national internet ‘firewall’ in 2024, utilizing Chinese technology to enhance the government's web monitoring abilities and control over popular platforms, allowing for selective feature blocking on applications and websites. This system was implemented at the country's primary internet gateways and the data centers of mobile operators and major internet service providers, leading to numerous complaints regarding poor internet connectivity.

“Just months after the contentious February 2024 general election, telecom operators were required by the regulator to implement what is termed the Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS), granting intelligence agencies immediate access to citizens’ call logs, private messages, browsing history, and more. The LIMS serves as yet another surveillance tool employed by the Pakistani state, enabling retrieval of unencrypted data from any consumer, eavesdropping on calls, and reading text messages,” the report noted.

“The Audio Leaks Case before the Islamabad High Court revealed how the state has been conducting extensive, warrantless surveillance through LIMS. Evidence showed that agencies could tap into telecom networks with a single click, using SIM, IMEI, or phone numbers to automatically extract SMS records, call data, metadata, and even complete content streams, audio, video, and search histories into central monitoring hubs,” it further elaborated.

In its recent report, the global democracy watchdog Freedom House ranked Pakistan 27th out of 100, categorizing it as ‘Not Free’ concerning internet freedom due to government efforts to expand censorship practices.