Daijiworld Media Network – Islamabad
Islamabad, Sep 9: Pakistani authorities have been unlawfully spying on millions of citizens, including journalists and politicians, through advanced surveillance systems acquired from foreign companies, Amnesty International revealed in a damning report on Tuesday.
The report, “Shadows of Control: Censorship and Mass Surveillance in Pakistan”, highlights how the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Armed Forces use the Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) and Web Monitoring System (WMS 2.0) to monitor phone calls, texts, emails, and internet use across the country.
According to Amnesty, Pakistan’s surveillance web is powered by a global supply chain spanning Germany, France, the UAE, China, Canada, and the US. LIMS, supplied by German company Utimaco via a UAE intermediary, enables interception of calls, messages, and location data, while WMS 2.0 — a firewall using Chinese Geedge Networks technology with US and French components — blocks VPNs and censors online content.
“Pakistan’s Web Monitoring System and Lawful Intercept Management System operate like watchtowers, constantly snooping on the lives of ordinary citizens,” said Amnesty Secretary General Agnès Callamard. “In Pakistan, your texts, emails, calls and internet access are all under scrutiny. This dystopian reality severely restricts freedom of expression and access to information.”
Amnesty claimed that the systems, funded by taxpayers, allow authorities to spy on over four million people at any given time, without legal safeguards. The watchdog warned that Pakistan’s legal framework offers “no real protection against mass surveillance,” enabling indiscriminate violations of privacy and human rights.
Trade records show that the first version of WMS was installed in 2018 with Canadian technology. In 2023, it was replaced by WMS 2.0, which Amnesty says mirrors China’s infamous “Great Firewall.”
“LIMS and WMS 2.0 are funded by public money, enabled by foreign tech, and used to silence dissent, causing severe human rights harms against the Pakistani people,” said Amnesty’s technologist Jurre van Bergen.
The report comes amid growing concerns about online censorship in Pakistan, where websites, VPNs, and political content are frequently blocked.