Pakistan begins blocking unregistered VPN apps – and this popular service is among the casualties

• Pakistan has reportedly begun to block unregistered VPNs
• Proton said its apps have been restricted since December 22
• Pakistan resumed VPN licensing in November

Pakistan has long planned to regulate VPNs, and now, authorities have reportedly begun to block some major VPN services. Proton, the company behind Proton VPN, confirmed on Sunday that its apps have been restricted in the country since December 22.

"Pakistan has followed countries like Russia, China, and Iran in blocking their citizens from using VPNs for uncensored access to X and other social media," said David Peterson, Proton VPN General Manager.

The move follows the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) resuming VPN licensing in November, when it announced a new framework to provide "secure and lawful" VPN services to the public.

Virtual private network (VPN) apps have become a crucial tool for people in Pakistan in recent years. That's largely because social media apps – including X, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp – are often blocked in the country.

However, VPNs do not just provide a way to circumvent content restrictions; they are also used to enhance user privacy and security online. Consequently, the recent restrictions on some of the best VPNs available could have major repercussions for digital rights in the country.

Which VPN apps have been affected?

It remains unclear exactly how many VPN providers have been affected so far.

According to Daily Pakistan, providers including NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, Mullvad, Cloudflare WARP, and Psiphon have all been impacted by disruptions.

When we reached out to NordVPN for comment, the company stated it had not noticed any disruptions to its services, while a Surfshark spokesperson noted its apps had experienced a "slight drop" but were otherwise unaffected.

Some users on Reddit reported slow speeds and connection drops in the country while also using ExpressVPN. We have reached out to the company for confirmation. Other Reddit users lamented restrictions on other Proton apps, including Proton Mail and Proton Pass.

Data from OONI Explorer indicates that access to Proton VPN's website may also be affected. The number of anomalous test results – defined as results that "present signs of potential network interference" – has increased in the past week.

Pakistan has been attempting to crack down on VPN usage for years.

After disrupting access to some VPN apps briefly in February 2024, PTA shared plans to regulate the use of VPNs as a way to curb misuse in August that year. It was at this point that "unregistered VPNs" officially became a target.

An initial plan to ban all unregistered VPNs was halted just a day before the deadline, following an intervention by Pakistan's Law Ministry citing a lack of legal grounds. Subsequently, the PTA announced a new strategy focused on licensing VPN service providers operating within the country.

While the crackdown appeared to lose momentum throughout 2025, the initiative remained on the agenda. On November 13, 2025, the PTA announced it had granted the first set of VPN licenses to five local companies.

While much of the focus has surrounded Proton, it appears likely that other VPN providers will also be affected in this latest wave of disruptions.

How to evade blocks

Despite the renewed scrutiny of VPN services in the country, effective workarounds remain available.

Peterson suggests that anyone struggling to use Proton VPN should update to the latest version and switch to its Stealth Protocol. This protocol is designed to obfuscate VPN traffic, making it harder to detect.

Likewise, NordVPN and Surfshark recommend using their respective NordWhisper or NoBorders protocols to bypass restrictions.

Both Proton and Surfshark suggest users try connecting to several different servers if their initial attempt fails, as not all servers are currently restricted.

"Newer servers (usually with higher numbers) and those from smaller countries have the best chance of success," said Proton.

Finally, Proton suggests switching between landline (Wi-Fi) and mobile data connections, as different internet service providers (ISPs) often have varying rates of success when it comes to blocking VPN traffic.

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