People seek sanctuary in Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to circumvent authoritarian regimes’ attempts to influence and block internet access.
These anti-censorship technologies offer a lifeline for those dealing with social media prohibitions, allowing them to connect and communicate despite the chaos that usually comes with such crackdowns.
After the government stopped access to Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms on May 9, demand for VPNs soared in Pakistan. This move was performed in response to the imprisonment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, which sparked huge violent protests and traffic bottlenecks.
On May 9, there was a significant jump in demand for VPN services, with a whopping 311% increase compared to the previous 28 days’ average daily usage. As of late afternoon on May 10, demand for VPNs had risen even more, hitting an astounding 846% above the usual.
variations around the world. For comparison, the data is delivered in monthly reports and compared to the prior 30 days.
Aside from the VPN increase, access to mobile broadband services was totally cut across the country. We anticipate that VPN usage will grow even more as the social media outage persists throughout the events.