Censorship is on the rise. Our internet freedoms are under threat as governments exercise more control over our digital rights than ever. We are more reliant on technology than ever, and targeting this infrastructure has devastating consequences for individuals.
The best VPNs are a crucial part of the fight against internet censorship, and Proton VPN is leading the way.
The Switzerland-based provider is one of the most private VPNs out there and champions digital freedoms and privacy. Its mission of building a better internet, where privacy is the default, includes a huge anti-censorship drive.
4.8 billion people were affected by internet censorship in 2024 and Proton VPN believes this number is only going to increase – so providing anti-censorship tools is critical.
Tom’s Guide sat down with Samuele Kaplun, Proton VPN’s Director of Engineering and Antonio Cesarano, Proton VPN’s Product Lead to discuss the rise in internet censorship, and what Proton VPN is doing to combat it.
Censorship is “concerning” and “demanding”
The duo didn’t sugarcoat their words when it comes to censorship. “We are very concerned for the future,” began Cesarano, “we are trying to stay ahead of whatever is happening.”
Proton VPN has been heavily investing in anti-censorship resources since 2021, and Cesarano noted how the company is looking holistically at big systems.
“It’s very intensive, it’s very demanding, and it means we really have to step up our game more and more,” he said. “It’s concerning, it’s exciting. We know we have the right tools, we have the right people, we have the right context around us. So let’s see if we manage to do it.”
Proton Mail was blocked by Russia in 2020 and this acted as a catalyst for the VPN team. The team wanted to build something into the VPN to bypass censorship before that was blocked as well.
“We were growing in terms of user base when we started to be targeted ourselves for censorship,” said Kaplun. “We didn’t want to abandon the existing user base, so that’s where we were kind of forced by the nature of how things were happening to ramp up so we didn’t let our users down.”
Feedback from those on the ground is vital for Proton VPN staying one step ahead of internet censorship. Kaplun described Proton VPN’s “active community” that gives “direct feedback”. They find ways to communicate and keep the team informed as to what works and what doesn’t.
Elections and forecasting
Forecasting and trying to predict spikes in censorship is often the hardest part of the anti-censorship process.
Cesarano called predicting censorship a “geopolitical game.” He reiterated the importance of communicating with those on the ground and how early warnings and rumors can help Proton VPN put mitigating measures in place.
But there are some events you can’t predict, and Kaplun talked of the need to have the technology in place to deal with events.
“Where we need to react quickly is in scaling. If we work effectively for a certain country, then we need to absorb the load,” he said. He talked of “buffers” that help the VPN absorb spikes and ensure users aren’t impacted.
“In terms of technology, what we are building is adding to our tool kit,” Kaplun added. “Every solution goes together with the previous one.” He said that because of this, not everything requires the same level of reaction. Countries who are newer to censorship might not have the technology capable of bypassing Proton VPN’s existing protections, with Kaplun saying they may not need “to scramble in order to provide the service there.”
But it’s countries that are more mature in terms of censorship ramping up their game that keeps Proton VPN busy and on its toes.
Elections are good points of reference for Proton VPN, with elections in certain countries being hotbeds for censorship and privacy crackdowns. Kaplun said the team “know that something is going to happen during those elections.”
Last year Proton VPN launched its VPN Election Campaign to join the Proton VPN Observatory. The Observatory documents spikes in Proton VPN usage across the world, and the election campaign provided dedicated free VPN servers during the time of elections to those in countries with a history of internet censorship – over one million people benefited from this in 2024.
Cesarano cited Venezuela as an example of the need to scale up. The team knew something might happen during its July 2024 presidential election, but “were not able to forecast the volume.” The Proton VPN Observatory saw a 51,000% increase in Proton VPN signups amid mass protests and social media blocks.
Restrictions continued in January 2025 as Venezuela went on a VPN banning spree and blocked Telegram.
Worrying numbers
Proton VPN recently released its End of Year 2024 report highlighting its fight against censorship. The report detailed some worrying numbers as 119 countries saw spikes in VPN signups.
Latin America saw the greatest number of signups, mainly being driven by developments in Venezuela and Brazil.
20 countries saw VPN signups of over 1,000% above the baseline. Six countries saw signups of over 5,000% above the baseline. Four counties saw signups of over 10,000% above the baseline.
Below are some of the highest percentage increases of VPN signups above the baseline:
- July 30 – Bangladesh = 40,000%
- August 9 – Venezuela = 51,000%
- October 31 – Mozambique = 127,830%
- November 1 – Mauritius = 182,890%
Proton VPN’s fightback
Proton VPN has introduced a wave of new features specifically designed to combat censorship and bypass restrictions. Kaplun said the most important thing is to be able to “get online.” But there is also a “minimum quality of service that you must have.”
He said it’s important to enable people to have video calls and have a reliable network. It needs to go beyond just being able to send a message.
Its Stealth protocol has been engineered to effectively circumvent blocks. It adopts obfuscation techniques so your traffic blends in with regular internet traffic, meaning the fact you’re using a VPN can’t be seen. Deep packet inspection (DPI) is a common tactic used to examine and block web traffic and Kaplun said this is where Stealth is effective.
Proton VPN has a huge fleet of servers – over 11,000 is the latest figure – including its Secure Core servers. The latter are owned and operated exclusively by Proton VPN and provide extra privacy by routing your traffic through two servers compared to just one.
Kaplun was very pleased to share the success of features that had a direct impact on users on the ground. The discreet icon feature protects users who have their phones searched by authorities.
The Proton VPN app can be disguised as an innocuous app icon that blends into the background, hiding the fact the individual uses a VPN. Kaplun said the team had received feedback from the community that the feature was “really effective.”
A similar feature is Proton VPN’s free browser extension, available on Chrome and Firefox. This is especially important in countries where the Proton VPN app is banned from app stores. An individual can benefit from VPN protection without needing to install an app on their device.
Both Kaplun and Cesarano stressed the importance of ensuring everyone can access VPN protection, regardless of whether they can pay for it or not. Proton VPN Free is already one of the best free VPNs on the market, and as mentioned earlier, a host of free anti-censorship servers were made available to those who needed them most.
Proton VPN’s Guest Mode takes this even further. Guest Mode means users don’t even need to create an account, meaning there is one less barrier to protection. Kaplun said they “don’t want to impose on people [the need] to be experts in order to get online.”
Users on Android can download the Proton VPN app and log in without any credentials. Selecting “continue as guest” automatically connects you to a server available on its free plan, allowing more people the opportunity to protect their privacy and bypass censorship.
In 2025, Proton VPN will continue to work on its anti-censorship features and highlight the need for this technology and how crucial it is to maintain people’s access to the internet.
This work is furthered by the fact Proton VPN, and the wider Proton business ecosystem, is majority-owned by The Proton Foundation and has transitioned to a non-profit structure. This means that the company won’t deviate from its mission to build a better internet for all.
The censorship yet to come
According to Kaplun, investment is needed in anti-censorship tools for “the survival of the technology.” He said how we’re no longer going to see censorship in just the authoritarian countries, but in Europe and the U.S. too.
“The more we progress, the more everything happens online,” Kaplun added. “If you control online, you can control everything.”
“The problem is that you have what is socially acceptable in the Western world,” Cesarano said. “Every time something happens, that bar goes a little bit down. And then we start to normalize the fact your emails get scanned, that your data is monitored.”
Cesarano said this is why Proton VPN is focusing on “drilling down” and making sure people have a way out.
If you control online, you can control everything
Samuele Kaplun, Proton VPN Director of Engineering
In recent weeks we have seen the UK government demand access to encrypted data held by Apple. We saw the U.S. impose a TikTok ban and Elon Musk’s DOGE faced a massive backlash and 12 privacy lawsuits over attempts to access the personal information of millions of Americans.
French broadcaster Canal+ launched a sweeping attack on leading VPN providers and data showed the scale of personal data collected by Western governments over the last decade.
Pakistan, Mozambique, Myanmar, and Iran all suffered internet blackouts, social media shutdowns, and VPN attacks, whilst Russia shut down the internet in several regions in a rumored test of its “sovereign internet structure” – something even Proton VPN wouldn’t be able to bypass.
This all shows how invasions of our digital privacy is becoming even more common in the Western world alongside increasingly hostile and dangerous steps being taken elsewhere.
Cesarano was also worried about the “access barrier” that is growing in the VPN industry and there is a lot of “catch up” a new product has to do. He is an advocate for sharing technology and ideas and educating people because censorship wins if this isn’t done.
“The fewer people you have entering that space, the less power, the less diversity, which means that these censors have a smaller portfolio of solutions that they have to stop,” he said.
Cesarano later said that Proton VPN doesn’t “claim to be the solution to censorship,” just “one of the different solutions.”
“If someone has a different solution, in a different space, even better. The more the better, because the more we are, the more expensive it becomes for governments to block all of us together. Then we can exchange technologies, we can learn from each other,” he continued.
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