Another door closes: Authorities expand restrictions on virtual private networks

At the end of October 2024, Roskomnadzor, Russia’s telecommunications and media regulator, blocked 197 virtual private networks (VPNs) that allowed users to access a number of restricted websites, including those belonging to the British Broadcasting Corporation, Instagram and numerous independent Russian stations operating in exile. While Moscow began blocking VPNs in 2021, it has stepped up these efforts since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Unfortunately, many people around the world are facing restrictions like those imposed by Roskomnadzor. VPNswhich encrypt user data, route traffic through servers operated remotely by the application provider, and mask some of the user’s identifying details, are critical tools for people seeking reliable information in repressive regimes, as are other circumvention solutions. These services also play an important role in protecting people from the prying eyes of the authorities. But authoritarian regimes, which often block news outlets, civil society websites and social platforms, are increasingly adopting repressive legislation to criminalize the use of these tools and remove them from app stores.

Closing the information highway

Governments in at least 41 of the 72 countries examined in Freedom House’s new report, Freedom on the Net 2024: The Fight for Online Trustpolitical, social or religious content blocked. Social media and communication platforms were blocked in just over a third of the countries we surveyed. These restrictions, which target some of the world’s most popular sites and services as well as locally created websites, illustrate how important tools like VPNs are to facilitate access to reliable, unbiased and diverse sources of information .

Because VPNs allow access to suppressed websites and can increase user privacy, regimes are increasingly restricting them. In the end of November 2023the Turkish government, which routinely blocks content critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, restricted access to 16 of the most popular VPNs in the country. In Belaruswhere the authorities blocked all independent media outlets, the state telecommunications operator Beltelecom blocked VPNs in May 2024. This affected elections for the Coordination Council, an opposition-led deliberative body forced to exile in result of the fraudulent re-election of President Aliaksandr Lukashenko in 2020. The voting platform was only accessible to Belarusians via VPN. Also in May, Myanmar’s ruling junta launch a new firewall that blocked a lot of VPNs, effectively limiting users to 1,500 websites. Internet freedom in Myanmar consequently he declined, leaving her bound with China as the worst polled country in our report.

Criminalizing Roadmaps to Online Freedom

Governments have also gone beyond explicit blocking orders by implementing new legal measures to crack down on the use and promotion of VPNs. In February 2024, the Iranian Govt indictable using “unauthorized” VPNs, including those that do not reflect its censorship apparatus. VPNs have allowed people in Iran to visit the ever-expanding list of banned websites and social media platforms. Also, ahead of the March presidential elections in Russia, the authorities there promulgated a law that criminalizes the advertising and promotion of banned VPNs, giving the government the power to charge those who advertise these tools or instruct people how to employ them. Introducing criminal penalties for simply using or promoting these apps further discourages their use.

App stores are increasingly facing official scrutiny. In July 2024, Apple removed 25 VPNs from its app store at the request of Roskomnadzor; Apple continued to phase out VPNs after that, taking a total of 98 apps from its store until September. While Roskomnadzor has long demanded that Apple and Google remove certain banned apps from their markets, this marked the first time it had previously ordered the removal of VPNs. taken by the Chinese government in 2017. Even though Russian government agencies rely on VPNs to circumvent sanctions, they appear to be spending at least $145 million on government-approved VPNs in 2024, they continue to implement blocks for ordinary people, preventing one of the few remaining avenues to avoid widespread online censorship.

How to support circumvention tools

To combat these restrictions, the private sector and democratic governments should continue to support the production and adoption of circumvention and anti-censorship tools, ensuring that they are accessible, privacy-preserving, sustainable and easy to adopt for diverse groups of people. These actors should also resist efforts to censor VPNs.

In turn, VPN providers should ensure that their products respect user privacy (not least by limiting their own use of user data and clarifying what VPNs can and cannot do to protect users); are available in a wide range of languages; and meet user needs. Hosting and cloud storage providers can too support the adoption of VPNs and other tools by reducing their server costs, which increase in correlation with their adoption. Companies that provide operating systems and browsers can develop built-in tools that enhance user privacy. Finally, app store operators should take all available legal measures, including strategic litigation, to reject takedown requests targeting VPNs or information about how to use them.

Democratic governments should continue to support the development of these tools and should make them more accessible, including by making them available in multiple languages ​​and for people with disabilities. The United States has led the way in this area, with State Department funding to support VPNs bloating from $5 million in 2019 to over $30 million in 2024. Beyond financial support, democratic governments should help connect the tools they fund with civil society groups that have experience and knowledge of local user needs. Finally, democracies should clearly and unequivocally denounce restrictions on secure VPNs, especially as authoritarians increasingly try to impose them. By strengthening VPNs and other tools, tech companies and democratic governments can help keep the world more connected and, ultimately, freer.