The country’s citizens, including ordinary citizens, journalists, as well as prominent and ordinary politicians, are being illegally monitored
“The armed forces and ISI spy on the digital activities of the population through Pakistani telecommunications providers
‘The Lawful Intercept Management System can simultaneously tap at least 4 million mobile phones, the Web Management System 2.0 firewall can block 2 million internet sessions at once.’
In Pakistan, your texts, emails, calls and internet access are all being scrutinized; people do not know this constant surveillance
Dr. Akhtar Gulfam, Editor-in-Chief, Daily Dawn, Director, News Dawn TV, OK TV
London: An Amnesty International report revealed on Tuesday that Pakistani authorities are monitoring more than four million of their citizens through mass surveillance tools acquired from private foreign companies, further tightening the country’s cyber landscape, the rights watchdog said in its findings.
In its findings, the rights watchdog said, “The armed forces and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) use the Lawful Interception Management System (LIMS) to monitor a significant portion of the population’s digital activities through Pakistani telecommunications providers.”
The report, titled “Shadows of Control: Censorship and Mass Surveillance in Pakistan,” found that Pakistani authorities continue to illegally monitor the country’s citizens, including ordinary citizens, journalists, as well as prominent politicians.
The report said that “at least four million mobile phones can be tapped simultaneously through the Lawful Interception Management System.”
Amnesty International, an international human rights organization, alleged in a report on Tuesday that Pakistan is Surveillance is being carried out on a large scale through a Chinese-made firewall and phone tapping system.
The Amnesty International report said that this surveillance of Pakistani citizens is being carried out using technology obtained from China and Western countries.
Amnesty International says that the Pakistani government has not responded to any letter regarding this report.
The report said that ‘at least 4 million mobile phones can be tapped simultaneously through the Lawful Intercept Management System, while the Web Management System 2.0 Firewall, which is used to filter and censor Internet content, can block 2 million Internet sessions at a time.’
Amnesty International revealed in a recent report that Pakistan is running this surveillance and censorship system with the help of Chinese, European and North American companies.
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said in a statement that ‘Pakistan’s web monitoring system and the Lawful Intercept Management System constantly monitor the lives of ordinary citizens. In Pakistan, your Texts, emails, calls, and internet access are all being monitored. But people are unaware of this constant surveillance. This terrifying reality is extremely dangerous because it operates in the shadows, severely restricting freedom of expression and access to information.
According to the international organization, while defense and intelligence agencies have denied these allegations, telecom officials have admitted that the “lawful intercept management system” has been implemented on government orders.
Amnesty warned that “this mass surveillance creates fear and panic in society and prevents citizens from exercising their fundamental rights.”
The international organization said that “such systems are also spreading rapidly globally, which are a sign of a threat to privacy and freedom of expression.”
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