Pakistan phone-tapping millions, silencing web with China's help: Amnesty report

Amnesty said Pakistan is actively blocking more than 650,000 web links, including access to major platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and X.

Pakistan is tapping millions of phones of its citizens and censoring their social media through a Chinese-built firewall, according to a new report by Amnesty International.

The report revealed that Pakistan's intelligence agencies have the ability to monitor at least 4 million mobile phones. (Representational image)

The rights group revealed that Pakistan's intelligence agencies have the ability to monitor at least 4 million mobile phones at any given time through a system known as the Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS).

Simultaneously, internet activity is filtered and censored via a powerful Chinese-built firewall called Web Monitoring System 2.0 (WMS 2.0), which can block or slow access to websites and social media platforms across the country.

The number of phones under surveillance could be higher as all four major mobile operators have been ordered to connect to LIMS, Amnesty technologist Jurre van Berge told Reuters.

Amnesty also said Pakistan is actively blocking more than 650,000 web links, including access to major platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter).

"Mass surveillance creates a chilling effect in society, whereby people are deterred from exercising their rights, both online and offline," the report said.

While Pakistan's defence ministries denied having the capacity to monitor calls, the telecom regulator admitted under court questioning that mobile operators had been ordered to install LIMS "for designated agencies."

Sweeping surveillance, foreign tech involved

The surveillance systems, Amnesty said, rely on both Chinese and Western technology. The firewall was traced to Geedge Networks, a Chinese company with ties to Beijing's state-run firms.

It reportedly works alongside hardware and software from U.S.-, French-, German, and Canadian-based companies.

Who are the named suppliers?

Amnesty said the firewall uses equipment from US-based Niagara Networks, software from Thales DIS, a unit of France's Thales, and servers from a Chinese state IT firm. An earlier version relied on Canada’s Sandvine.

Court case reveals hidden operations

Already restricted political and media freedoms in Pakistan have tightened in recent years, particularly after the military broke with then-Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2022, who was later jailed, and thousands of his party activists were detained.

Human rights experts warned that the dual use of phone tapping and internet filtering marks a serious escalation in government control.

Amnesty said its findings draw on a 2024 Islamabad High Court case filed by Bushra Bibi, the wife of former premier Khan, after her private calls were leaked online.

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