Even ahead of the presidential election in Turkey this weekend, virtual private network provider ProtonVPN reveals to Tech&Co that the number of its VPN subscribers has increased significantly in the country.
A VPN is a service that encrypts your Internet connection and places your Internet network in another country. This tool is regularly used by Internet users who want to bypass the censorship of social networks… even in Turkey.
44,000 records per day, increasing
“Usage is also very high, with peaks of several hundred thousand people connected simultaneously,” ProtonVPN further reports, noting Tech&Co that on Sunday, May 14, the service “recorded a significant increase in usage” with 44,000 registrations. per day, “constantly increasing.”
Internet censorship is a legitimate fear in Türkiye. At the end of last week, Twitter had partially complied with the censorship by the Turkish authorities, by deleting tweets from opponents of Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the Turkish version of the platform. The outgoing president is now neck and neck with the single opposition candidate, ahead of the second round.
Especially last February, a wave of criticism for the management of the earthquake on January 6 that devastated the southwest of the country caused the closure of Twitter for several hours. VPN usage had already increased by then, with ProtonVPN clocking in at more than 30,000% above typical levels.
“The numbers we see are, for example, comparable to those seen last February in Turkey when the government censored Twitter after the earthquake.”
Source: BFM TV
