Pakistan has quietly assembled one of the most expansive state surveillance systems outside of China, according to a new report by Amnesty International. The rights watchdog says the government is using a combination of mass phone tapping and a Chinese-designed internet firewall to monitor millions of citizens, restrict online freedoms, and clamp down on dissent.
Two Pillars of Control: Phones and the Internet
At the core of the surveillance program are two technologies: the Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) and the Web Monitoring System 2.0 (WMS 2.0).
- LIMS is embedded directly into telecom networks and enables the interception of calls, texts, and browsing histories from at least four million mobile phones. The system gives Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies direct access to telecom subscriber data.
- WMS 2.0, modeled on China’s “Great Firewall,” blocks virtual private networks (VPNs), censors websites, and throttles internet traffic on as many as two million active connections at a time.
Amnesty describes the pairing as a “watchtower” over everyday life in Pakistan, with little transparency and no meaningful oversight.
Built on Foreign Technology
The report reveals that Pakistan’s surveillance apparatus has been pieced together through a patchwork of suppliers from China, Europe, North America, and the Gulf.
- The earlier WMS 1.0, installed in 2018, used technology from Canadian company Sandvine (now AppLogic Networks).
- By 2023, Pakistan shifted to WMS 2.0, built by China’s Geedge Networks, a company linked to Chinese state-owned enterprises. U.S.-based Niagara Networks and France’s Thales supplied supporting infrastructure.
- For phone interception, German company Utimaco provides the interception technology, while UAE-based Datafusion supplies the software that organizes and routes data to Pakistan’s intelligence agencies.
Amnesty says this international supply chain has allowed Pakistan to establish “one of the world’s most far-reaching surveillance frameworks outside China.”
Responses: Silence from Islamabad, Few Answers Abroad
Out of 20 companies Amnesty contacted, only two—Niagara Networks and AppLogic Networks—gave substantive replies. Utimaco and Datafusion provided limited responses but avoided addressing the watchdog’s findings.
Amnesty also wrote to nine government agencies. While regulators in Germany and Canada acknowledged receiving letters, they offered no comment. Pakistan’s government did not respond at all.
Surveillance as a Political Weapon
The timing of Pakistan’s surveillance expansion coincides with political unrest. Since the ouster of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2022, opposition figures and activists have faced mass arrests, and critics argue that these monitoring systems are being used to suppress dissent.
The Islamabad High Court is already hearing a case brought by Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, after private phone conversations were leaked online. While ministries deny operating tapping systems, Pakistan’s telecom regulator has admitted that operators were required to install LIMS “for designated agencies.”
Nationwide, more than 650,000 web links are blocked, and regions such as Balochistan face prolonged connectivity shutdowns. Rights groups say these blackouts provide cover for enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings—allegations the military rejects.
A Rare Firewall Beyond China
Experts note that Pakistan’s internet controls stand out globally. “It is unusual to see this scale of internet control outside China,” said Ben Wagner, a human rights and technology scholar at IT:U in Austria.
Amnesty warns that the combined systems are creating a “chilling effect,” where citizens self-censor and avoid political discussion both online and offline. With foreign technology underpinning the infrastructure and little accountability at home, Pakistan’s digital space is shifting from an open forum to a heavily monitored environment.
