VPN use in Venezuela rises after presidential election

VPN usage in Venezuela has skyrocketed following the presidential election held last Sunday, July 28, 2024.

One of the best VPN services out there, Proton VPN, has seen a 4,000% increase in registrations above normal levels so far, and at the time of writing, downloads were still rising.

The provider confirmed to Ny Breaking that its Android VPN app has been the most downloaded application on the Venezuelan Android app store across all categories in recent days. Proton VPN is also among the top three most downloaded apps on Apple’s App Store.

“Typically, the most downloaded apps are social media and communication apps. The fact that these have now been surpassed by a VPN app is unprecedented and shows how people in Venezuela are turning to tech companies like Proton to preserve their basic freedoms,” David Peterson, General Manager at Proton VPN, told me.

As people increasingly turn to VPN apps, Venezuelan authorities appear to have attempted to clamp down on VPN use in the country. Before the election, some Proton users complained about having trouble accessing the VPN apps. Peterson also told me that Proton VPN had been the target of a disinformation campaign, falsely claiming it was a data collection tool. However, “attempts to block Proton VPN have so far been ineffective,” he added.

If the situation changes and you experience issues using a Proton VPN in Venezuela (or any other service for that matter), here are some tips to bypass potential blocks.

Why is VPN usage so high in Venezuela?

“VPNs were already widely used in Venezuela because the media there is heavily censored and the baseline levels were already very high,” Peterson told me, adding that this recent spike shows that such software is now essential in Venezuela.

According to reports, many websites have been blocked since last Sunday as protests are taking place across the country.

On July 28, the British internet watchdog NetBlocks reported that multiple Venezuelan ISPs began restricting access to all language versions of Wikipedia, an incident that experts said matched “a similar pattern observed in 2019.” Among others, the digital rights advocacy group Access now confirmed further blocking of websites, including an opposition portal to compare voting results and a local civil society website.

Fortunately, a virtual private network (VPN) can help with these Internet disruptions.

For the less technical, a VPN is security software that encrypts your internet connections, increases your online privacy, and spoofs your real IP address. That last feature is exactly why people use these services to reliably access news outlets, social media platforms, and other services when restrictions hit.

This is also why Proton launched a free VPN network of dedicated anti-censorship servers in Venezuela a week before and after the presidential election as part of its election support initiative.

If you are in Venezuela, all you need to do is choose a server that is located outside the country. As a result, you will trick local ISPs into giving you access to restricted content.

“We encourage people in Venezuela to download a VPN in advance, should internet censorship in the country become even more strict,” Peterson said, adding that Venezuelan citizens are also creating and sharing how-to guides for their fellow citizens.

For more information in Spanish about using Proton VPN I recommend checking out some translated guidesand a full installation and instruction video here.