Pakistan is spying on millions of citizens using Chinese-built internet firewall; report says: Four biggest mobile operators have been ordered to ...

A new report by Amnesty International alleges that Pakistan is conducting widespread surveillance on its citizens using a phone-tapping system and a Chinese-built internet firewall. According to a report by news agency Reuters, the human rights watchdog says this comprehensive monitoring network, built with both Chinese and Western technology, is being used to suppress dissent and free speech.The report details how Pakistan's spy agencies can monitor at least four million mobile phones at once through a system known as the Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS). This is combined with a firewall, WMS 2.0, that can inspect and block two million active internet sessions at a time. The two monitoring systems reportedly function in tandem: one lets intelligence agencies tap calls and texts while the other slows or blocks websites and social media across the country.

What is Pakistan government's internet firewall

Amnesty says the firewall uses equipment from U.S. company Niagara Networks, software from France's Thales DIS, and servers from a Chinese state IT firm. The phone-tapping system, made by Germany's Utimaco, is reportedly deployed through monitoring centers run by UAE-based Datafusion. Both Datafusion and AppLogic Networks, a successor to a previous supplier, said they have mechanisms to prevent misuse.

The number of phones under surveillance reportedly could be higher as all four major mobile operators have been ordered to connect to LIMS, Amnesty technologist Jurre van Berge told Reuters.According to the report, Pakistan is currently blocking an estimated 650,000 web links and restricting platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and X. Ben Wagner, a professor of human rights and technology, noted that while phone monitoring is common, the combination of both systems in Pakistan "constitutes a troubling development from a human rights perspective."