Hi everyone,

Today, we’re announcing the launch of our Proton VPN Observatory. Internet shutdowns hit new highs each year as governments worldwide impose censorship at alarming rates. The Proton VPN Observatory maps significant increases as people sign up for Proton VPN in real-time. We aim to understand geo-political censorship trends so that we may better combat online censorship.

You can check out our observatory here: https://protonvpn.com/internet-censorship-observatory/2023.

For context, in 2022, authorities shut down the internet across 35 countries — the highest number ever recorded in a year — at least 187 times. So far, for 2023, we’ve listed 4 countries where we saw massive spikes in Proton VPN signups. (Thank you to Access Now for the statistics.)

We will continue to fight on the frontlines of internet censorship by providing communities around the globe with the tools they need to take their right to privacy back.

You can also check out our mini-documentary we created to honor the fight against censorship here.