'Inconsistent' Pak Internet controls lack transparency: Report

A recent report, titled "Pakistan's Internet Landscape," has revealed that despite systematized blocking and filtering of online contents in recent years by the government, the process is still inconsistent and lacks transparency.

Although the government has deployed systematic surveillance and censorship of the web, Pakistanis still have access to a wide range of content as they have turned to proxy servers, virtual private networks and other tools to circumvent blocked content, Dawn News reports.

According to the report, Internet penetration in Pakistan is now approximately 15 percent of the population, with the country having 15 million internet users on mobile alone.

The report has been authored by Jehanzeb Haque and produced for "Bytes For All," which is a human rights and advocacy organisation with a focus on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

The report also revealed that several radical religious groups have rapidly expanded in the online space, forming a dangerous bloc that threatens cyberspace at many levels.