Pakistani officials are keeping tabs on more than 4 million of their own people through cutting-edge digital surveillance tools bought from foreign companies, including China’s Geedge Network. A new Amnesty International report called “Shadow of Control: Censorship and Mass Surveillance in Pakistan” exposes how this massive monitoring effort works.
At the heart of it all sit two key systems. The Web Monitoring System, or WMS 2.0, acts like a national firewall. It lets authorities block internet access, shut down virtual private networks (VPNs), and take down specific websites whenever they want. Then there’s the Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS), which taps into phone calls, text messages, online activities, and even location data from local telecom companies for widespread eavesdropping.
Much of the tech behind LIMS comes from a German firm called Utimaco and an Emirati company named Datafusion. Utimaco helps analyze subscriber info from phone providers, and Datafusion’s platform makes it easy for officials to access and process all that data.
This isn’t new for Pakistan—surveillance has been around for decades. Back in the 1990s, it even helped topple governments. As Osama Ahmad writes in The Diplomat, the practice has only ramped up over time. Nighat Dad, founder of the Digital Rights Foundation, told the outlet that research shows Pakistan has built up serious surveillance powers in the last 10 years.
In 1997, the Supreme Court stepped in and declared state surveillance illegal, saying it violates Article 14 of the constitution, which protects privacy. But Dad points out a big problem: Without strong data protection laws, people remain exposed to harassment and constant watching, despite Pakistan’s promises under global agreements like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Officials often defend the spying by pointing to national security or moral reasons. Yet many worry it’s really about cracking down on critics and stifling free speech in Pakistan. Take the February 2024 ban on X (formerly Twitter). When users bypassed it with VPNs, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority pushed to register all VPNs. The Council of Islamic Ideology even called VPN use “un-Islamic.” The government blamed militants, but the timing lined up with protests organized by supporters of jailed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Pakistan has targeted other apps too, like TikTok, which officials say spreads immorality. Just recently, a Punjab Assembly lawmaker proposed a permanent ban on the platform for those reasons.
Beyond outright bans, the surveillance hits hard on journalists, activists, and politicians. The report highlights how private audio and video clips of opposition figures get leaked to smear them—a dirty trick that’s been common in Pakistani politics for years.
Usama Khilji, director of Bolo Bhi, told The Diplomat that while authorities claim it’s all for security, it’s mostly to quiet down dissent. “The main targets? Political opponents, journalists, and activists fighting for human rights or social issues,” he said.
It’s not just the military getting heat—the judiciary and parliament share blame too, since they haven’t stopped these warrantless operations. As Khilji put it, illegal surveillance skips individual consent and court approval, making everyone complicit.
Amnesty’s findings fit a pattern of digital repression in Pakistan. Think X blockades, internet shutdowns during unrest, tweaks to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), and other curbs on online freedoms. For everyday Pakistanis, it all adds up to a growing shadow over privacy and expression.
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