Freedom on the Net 2026: Pakistan

Summary

Internet freedom remained restricted during the coverage period as the Pakistani government shut down the internet, blocked websites and virtual private networks (VPNs), and handed out multiyear prison sentences for critical online content. While internet access and speeds have improved in recent years, Pakistan’s military has continued to manipulate the content that appears in digital spaces, including on social media platforms. This report has been abridged for Freedom on the Net 2026.

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This summary (140 words) is drawn automatically from the report's own text: every sentence is Freedom House's, selected to represent the report, in the order the report gives them. Some context is necessarily lost; read the full report before quoting it.