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       ISLAMABAD: Deep packet inspection services were procured by telecom operators in Pakistan to block unauthorised content on the internet, which were ceased in 2023, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said.

       In a statement, the telecom regulator said it always discouraged “misuse of technology contrary to human rights by ensuring the legitimate use of the technology within the applicable legal framework”.

       The statement came in the wake of media reports regarding Canada-based company Sandvine, which develops technology used to monitor and manage internet traffic.

       The firm was recently removed from a US ban list after being sanctioned over concerns of “mass web-monitoring and censorship and target human rights activists and dissidents”.

       Sandvine made headlines in Pakistan in 2019, when a minister told the National Assembly that the PTA had asked it and another firm to “provide equipment for monitoring grey traffic”.

       In its latest statement, PTA clarified: “The services, which were procured through a contract by telecom operators as per applicable regulatory regime, have already ceased in mid-2023. The purpose of procuring of services was for blocking of grey traffic, pornographic / blasphemous web contents”.

       Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2024