Pakistan blocks over 1,300 websites: Here’s why!

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced on Tuesday that it has blocked over 1,300 websites, apps and social media pages that were found to be involved in selling leaked personal data of Pakistani citizens.

The move came in response to a local news report that revealed that the personal information of thousands of people, including federal ministers and top officials, had been compromised and was being sold online.

The allegedly leaked data includes mobile subscribers’ addresses, call logs, copies of National Identity Card (CNIC) and international travel records, affecting individuals at various levels of government.

According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), only licensed telecom operators are authorized to manage and store subscriber data.

“As part of the ongoing crackdown on illegal content, PTA has blocked 1,372 websites, apps and social media pages involved in the sale or distribution of personal data,” the authority said in a statement.

The PTA clarified that an initial review of the compromised datasets revealed that the information was collected from multiple external sources and not directly from licensed telecom operators. The datasets allegedly included family details, travel history, vehicle registration, and CNIC images.

The regulator also confirmed that no data breach was found in the licensed telecom sector.

In response to the breach, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday ordered a formal investigation and directed the National Cybercrimes Investigation Agency to probe the incident and submit a report within 14 days.

Local media reports suggest that several websites were offering stolen data at extremely low prices – including mobile location data for Rs 500, complete mobile usage records for Rs 2,000 and international travel details for Rs 5,000.

The incident is the latest in a series of data breaches affecting Pakistani citizens. In May 2025, the National Cybercrime Emergency Response Team warned that the login credentials of over 180 million internet users in Pakistan had been stolen in a global breach, urging the public to take immediate security precautions.

Earlier, in March 2024, the Joint Investigation Team investigating the breach at the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) informed the Interior Ministry that the credentials of around 2.7 million people had been compromised between 2019 and 2023.