If you live in Pakistan, or plan on travelling to the country, you probably already know how restrictive internet censorship has become. Many popular websites are completely blocked, and if you’re looking for a VPN for Pakistan, you’re also likely trying to unblock YouTube. Luckily, a VPN is all that is needed to unblock any website in Pakistan, but it also provides privacy and security for all of your online data, which is well worth the investment. Internet users in Pakistan face data retention and monitoring laws that undermine all privacy.
Blocked Websites In Pakistan
Internet access in Pakistan remains highly censored. As of 2018, more than 6000 websites had already been blocked, and the number continues to increase. The reasons for censorship are often related to content being judged and reported to authorities as religiously blasphemous, but in some cases, websites are considered to be threats to national security, such as WordPress, a popular blogging platform. The issue of blasphemy is a serious one in country, not only is it a criminal offence, but it often pushes extremist mob groups to organize vigilante attacks that have resulted in casualties. Internationally popular websites currently banned include Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and certain pages on websites such as Flickr, and Wikipedia. Many torrent websites are also blocked, and torrent file sharing has been made illegal in the country.
The ban is not limited to websites and torrents. Apps like Telegram and Tor browser are also banned, likely due to having encrypted messaging and browsing capabilities, which makes it near impossible for authorities to monitor communications.
Unblock YouTube In Pakistan
Pakistan banned access to YouTube back in September of 2012. In 2016, the government announced that they would lift their ban on YouTube by providing access to a local version of the website. The government can request for Google to remove any content they deem to be offensive. In order to unblock the real and uncensored YouTube in Pakistan, you simply need to connect to a VPN server in any other country that does not censor websites.
The same process is used to unblock any other banned websites or apps. By connecting to a server outside of Pakistan, it makes it appear as if you’re located in the same country as the server being used, which effectively by-passes any blocks.
Online Privacy In Pakistan
The Pakistani government takes measures to monitor domestic communications. The PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) can intercept mobile communications, emails, and many other forms of data transmissions and since 2004, all ISPs are bound by law to comply with requests for subscriber information. Data retention is also required by all internet service providers, meaning that all online activity in Pakistan is logged and not private. Journalists and press workers are one of the higher risk groups in the country that require better security when using the internet.
Using a VPN in Pakistan can restore privacy to your online browsing. A virtual private network connection uses encrypted protocols to mask all of your online data before it leaves or reaches your computer. Even your ISP can no longer see what websites you’re visiting or files you’ve downloaded.
On top of unblocking websites in Pakistan, and providing online privacy, VPNs can also be used to bypass geo-restricted websites such as US Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC One, or any other service in the world.
However, it’s important to choose a VPN with strong and up-to-date encryption protocols. Using a faulty or dated VPN service can lead to IP and DNS leaks, or exploits that could decipher your online activity.
Another important factor to consider in your choice, is the need to browse with a Pakistani IP address. In such cases, you need to make sure that the VPN service includes at least one sever in Pakistan.
Below are the top suggestions for the Best VPNs for Pakistan. All services have been tested in 2019 to ensure up to date and secure encryption, high privacy, and fast speeds for streaming, downloading files or torrent file sharing. In the following list, 4 VPNs have Pakistani VPN servers: ExpressVPN, Ivacy, CyberGhost, and VyprVPN all have local servers available to browse with Pakistani IP addresses from anywhere in the world.
ExpressVPN – Full ExpressVPN Review
ExpressVPN is a great VPN for Pakistan thanks to having great speeds, secure 256-bit OpenVPN encryption, and servers in almost 100 countries. You can unblock any service imaginable, and they even provide Pakistan VPN servers to browse with a local IP address. Apps are available for all platforms with strong built-in anti-leak protection to ensure your connection remains private at all times. Lots of South Asian servers are also available for fast connection points.
Ivacy – Full Ivacy Review
A strong VPN for Pakistan is Ivacy, known for having very fast servers great for downloading and streaming, they also provide secure encryption and privacy and keep no service logs. Network coverage includes servers in almost 60 countries all over the world. Ivacy has a strong presence in Asia with servers available in Pakistan, allowing you to browse with a local IP address if needed.
CyberGhost – Full Cyberghost Review
CyberGhost is a great choice for browsing privately and securely in Pakistan. They provide curated lists of optimized servers in 59 countries for torrents and streaming. The apps are well designed, matched with strong, up to date encryption, and no logging. They also include servers in Pakistan for browsing with a Pakistani IP, and many other servers in South Asia.
VyprVPN – Full Vyprvpn Review
VyprVPN qualifies as a strong VPN choice, thanks to having servers located in Pakistan and all over Asia. The service provides access to servers in over 60 different countries, so you can unblock any website or service. Just recently, VyprVPN removed all log keeping from their service and started fully supporting torrents. This is great news because Vypr has very strong encryption and censorship bypassing capabilities with their Chameleon connection protocol.
Surfshark – Full Surfshark Review
Although Surfshark does not currently have any servers located in Pakistan, if you don’t need a Pakistani IP address, they still make a great VPN selection. They provide access to servers in more than 50 countries, including some locations in Asia, such as India. Good speeds for streaming and downloading, strong encryption and no logs. Surfshark notably allows an unlimited amount of simultaneously connected devices per account, which makes it very affordable if you happen to have lots of devices to connect, such as computers, tablets, smartphones, and television boxes.
