ISLAMABAD: The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman, Dr Raghib Hussain Naeemi, has declared the use of VPNs for accessing blocked or illegal content as contrary to Islamic principles.

Answering a question on the Islamic status of the use of VPNs, he said that it was government’s religious authority to take steps against apps to restrict access to unethical, blasphemous, or harmful material, including banning VPNs, align with Islamic injunctions.

Dr Naeemi said that the use of technology such as VPNs, when intended to bypass restrictions on prohibited websites, violates both Islamic ethics and societal norms. He argued that this constitutes “aiding in sin”, a concept explicitly forbidden in Islamic jurisprudence.

VPN technology allows users to conceal their identity and location, which, while useful for legitimate security and privacy needs, is often misused to access unethical or blocked content, he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024