If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Over the past two weeks, internet users in Pakistan have watched their encrypted connections vanish one after another. Beginning December 22, 2025, major VPNs, including Proton VPN, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, Mullvad, Cloudflare WARP, and Psiphon have been systematically blocked across the country, according to Daily Pakistan. The blackout follows a government licensing framework that, on paper, regulates VPN providers but in practice gives the state the power to decide which privacy tools are permitted. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) began enforcing its Class Value Added Services (CVAS-Data) licensing rules in November 2025, nearly a year after quietly introducing the policy. Under these regulations, companies that want to operate legally must install “Legal Interception” compliant hardware and hand it over “to nationally authorized security organizations” at their own expense whenever instructed. Any VPN not listed as licensed is automatically subject to blocking by domestic internet providers. The bans have not silenced everyone. Some VPNs like Proton have a “Stealth” protocol, Mullvad VPN has a QUIC & WireGuard Obfuscation, and IVPN has V2Ray and Obfsproxy Obfuscation, which can be turned on, helping people bypass some of the VPN blocking attempts. Officials have promoted the licensing regime as a modernization effort, describing it as a step toward “regulatory facilitation, user convenience, and enhanced cybersecurity across Pakistan’s digital ecosystem.” In mid-November, the PTA announced that five domestic firms had already been authorized to provide what it called “secure and lawful” VPN services. The state’s rhetoric masks a deeper problem. Under this model, privacy tools only exist with government permission. By forcing providers to operate inside the country’s legal jurisdiction, regulators gain direct leverage over their infrastructure and data. This is not a new battle. For years, authorities have tried to outlaw “unregistered” VPNs, only to face legal pushback and technical difficulties. The licensing system sidesteps those obstacles by creating a closed market that pre-filters which VPNs may function at all. Pakistan’s approach fits a larger pattern of tightening control over online space. Access to platforms like X has been disrupted repeatedly, and digital monitoring capacity has expanded with help from foreign technology suppliers. A network of licensed VPNs fitted with interception equipment would plug directly into that architecture, ensuring that even encrypted traffic routes through systems capable of inspection. The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), founded by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, denounced the government’s move, accusing the “dictatorial regime” of censorship. The party has warned that the new restrictions further isolate Pakistanis from independent information sources at a time of deep political division. Digital rights groups and business organizations have also raised alarms. Pakistan’s technology sector, particularly its freelance and software export industries, relies on stable and uncensored access to global services. Previous attempts to curb VPN usage led to slow connections, disrupted client communication, and uncertainty for firms handling foreign contracts. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Pakistan Blocks Major VPNs Under New Licensing Rules, Expanding State Control Over Internet Access appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

About That Left-Wing Terror Attack in Berlin the Other Day...

A new study suggests that the bottom of the icy moon’s ocean doesn’t have what it takes.

There is “an urgent need for more proactive public health surveillance and intervention efforts”, argue scientists in a new paper.

The solar eruptions around May 2024 affected Earth and even our missions on Mars.

New research suggests people who struggle with complexity and those who believe the world is inherently unjust are more likely to subscribe to conspiracy thinking.

Mummies found so far date back 66 million years, a time when predatory giants were roaming Wyoming's Badlands.

Liberals naturally gravitate to marking the fifth anniversary of the January 6 riot at the Capitol, and that includes the so-called "independent fact checkers." PolitiFact promoted its January 6 category page, which demonstrates their liberal narrative enforcement function. They boasted of more than 100 "fact checks," but the tilt is dramatic.  According to this topic page, there are 44 "checks" of named conservatives or Republicans, compared to just three for Democrats, almost 15 to 1. Of those 44, there were 14 "Pants On Fire" rulings, and only one is not "Mostly False" or worse. In September of 2022, then-Rep Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) drew a "Mostly True" for noting every time a Republican has been elected president over the last few decades, House Democrats have objected to the result. Five years after the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack, politicians and influencers continue to spread falsehoods about the effort to overthrow the 2020 election. PolitiFact has written more than 100 fact-checks about Jan. 6. Find them here: https://t.co/3scuOHJQVn — PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) January 6, 2026 All three Democrat checks were "Mostly False" or "False." That included former Rep. Charlie Crist claiming Ron DeSantis hadn't condemned the riot, and congressional candidate Rebecca Brooks claiming in 2022 that now-Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) "participated" in the riot. (He stood outside.) There's no check of an actual member of Congress or President Biden or Vice President Harris on this topic page, although PolitiFact repeatedly pounced on anyone suggesting Nancy Pelosi did anything wrong. No member of the Pelosi-Picked Panel on January 6 drew any attention, including the "RINOS," suggesting those hearings were factually perfect. Months before the committee was born, Liz Cheney drew a "Pants On Fire" rating for suggesting President Biden wasn't pouring much money into "infrastructure." She was considered a real Republican at that time.  There was no "Truth-O-Meter" rating assigned for all the claims that Capitol policeman Brian Sicknick died from "injuries" in the "pro-Trump rampage," since that appeared in The New York Times and was repeated by Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow. They noted the medical finding that Sicknick died of two strokes in April 2021, never to return.  Donald Trump was tagged eight times on this curated topic, and Tucker Carlson was attacked five times. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) drew several "Pants On Fire" critiques. Johnson drew one for arguing "To call what happened on January 6 an armed insurrection, I just think is not accurate." Actually, he drew two "liar liar" ratings for that argument. No shots were fired by rioters -- only by the cop fatally shooting Ashli Babbitt.

A class-action lawsuit filed last month is challenging McDonald's over a cult-favorite menu item, the McRib. The lawsuit, filed on December 23 in U.S. District Court in Chicago, alleges that McDonald's engaged in false advertising when promoting the limited-time menu item. 'We've always been transparent about our ingredients so guests can make the right choice for them.'The four plaintiffs in the complaint are Peter Le of Baldwin Park, California; Charles Lynch of Poughkeepsie, New York; Darien Baker of Chicago, Illinois; and Darrick Wilson of Washington, D.C. RELATED: McDonald's team admits workload on hated AI Christmas ad 'far exceeded' live-action shoots Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty ImagesThe complaint claims that the McRib "does not contain any meaningful quantity of actual pork rib meat — indeed, none at all." The plaintiffs claim that the fast-food chain uses lower-quality cuts of meat instead of rib meat, including, "inter alia, pork shoulder, heart, tripe or scalded stomach."In December 2024, when the McRib was available, the complaint shows that the McRib was one of the most expensive individual items on the menu, even exceeding the price of a Big Mac on average. As a result, had they "known that the McRib did not contain any actual pork rib meat, [the plaintiffs] would not have purchased the McRib or would only have purchased it for a lower price."In a statement obtained by CBS News, McDonald's USA said, "This lawsuit distorts the facts, and many of the claims are inaccurate. Food quality and safety are at the heart of everything we do — that's why we're committed to using real, quality ingredients across our entire menu. Our fan-favorite McRib sandwich is made with 100% pork sourced from farmers and suppliers across the U.S. We've always been transparent about our ingredients so guests can make the right choice for them."CBS also reported that McDonald's denied the specific claim that the McRib contains pork hearts, tripe, or scalded stomach and that the company said the McRib has a base of 100% seasoned boneless pork. The complaint emphasizes that the marketing for the McRib was "materially misleading" for consumers, potentially affecting their purchasing decisions. The McRib was first introduced in Kansas City in 1981.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

At the time President Donald Trump took office last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was recommending that all American children get vaccines for 18 diseases, loading kids up with more than twice as many doses as their European counterparts were receiving.As the result of an overhaul of the schedule announced on Monday, the agency is now recommending universal childhood vaccinations for only 11 diseases.'America will no longer require 72 "jabs" for our beautiful, healthy children.'Trump issued a presidential memorandum last month directing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Jim O'Neill, the acting CDC director, to "review best practices from peer, developed countries for core childhood vaccination recommendations — vaccines recommended for all children — and the scientific evidence that informs those best practices."In the event that they found that foreign practices were superior to current domestic recommendations, Trump tasked Kennedy and O'Neill with updating the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule accordingly.O'Neill discussed childhood vaccine recommendations and policy with health officials from various first-world nations as well as with vaccine safety experts at the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.RELATED: How Big Pharma left its mark on woke CDC vax advisory panel — and what RFK Jr. did about it Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images He also reviewed a comprehensive scientific assessment that not only compared American vaccine recommendations with dozens of other first-world nations but "analyzed vaccine uptake and public trust, evaluated clinical and epidemiological evidence and knowledge gaps, examined vaccine mandates, and identified next steps."The CDC indicated that the assessment "found that the U.S. is a global outlier among developed nations in both the number of diseases addressed in its routine childhood vaccination schedule and the total number of recommended doses but does not have higher vaccination rates than such countries."O'Neill ultimately approved a corresponding decision memo from the agency heads of the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare, recommending immunization for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilius influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus, and chickenpox for all children.While the core schedule now recommends only these 11 — just one more than is recommended in Denmark — the CDC recommends on an individual basis: RSV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal B, meningococcal ACWAY, and dengue vaccines for "high-risk groups" and hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza, and COVID-19 vaccines.The overhaul has evidently vexed elements of the medical establishment who oversaw the precipitous decline in trust in U.S. public health.'This decision protects children.'"Today’s announcement that HHS is drastically altering the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule without a transparent process or clear scientific justification represents the latest reckless step in Secretary Kennedy’s assault on the national vaccine infrastructure that has saved millions of lives. His actions put families and communities at risk and will make America sicker," Ronald Nahass, the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said in a statement.Ofer Levy, director of the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children's Hospital, likewise questioned the transparency of the process, suggesting "not all of this was really hashed out in a discussion that was available for the public to listen to and participate in."O'Neill noted that these changes are part of a broader effort to regain the trust of the American people."One of the consequences was parents declining recommended vaccines for their children," stated O'Neill. "Parents who think that more than 80 doses per child is too many may now consider giving their children the 10 vaccines in the international consensus of 20 nations, plus the varicella vaccine."Kennedy thanked O'Neill for his "leadership and bravery" and noted that "this decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health.""This Schedule is rooted in the Gold Standard of Science, and widely agreed upon by Scientists and Experts all over the World," Trump stated on Truth Social."Effective today, America will no longer require 72 'jabs' for our beautiful, healthy children," continued the president. "We are moving to a far more reasonable Schedule, where all children will only be recommended to receive Vaccinations for 11 of the most serious and dangerous diseases."Trump and federal health officials emphasized both that parents can continue to give their children the vaccinations dropped from the schedule and that insurance will continue to cover them.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!