Penka Hristovska
Published on: March 11, 2024
Proton VPN is offering free virtual VPN servers in censorship-heavy countries ahead of their elections.
A VPN is an app that offers servers all over the world. When you connect to a VPN server, it encrypts your data and assigns you an IP address that matches the server location. However, a virtual server works a little differently from a normal VPN server. While it still assigns you an IP address that matches the server location, the physical server is located in a different country.
VPNs use virtual servers in countries that restrict access to the internet, have weak privacy laws, or lack good server infrastructure. A virtual server allows users in that country to access a free and open internet while maintaining their privacy online.
Proton VPN plans to activate these servers in a total of 15 countries two weeks before each election and will keep them operational for a week following the election. The following table details the availability of free servers in each country.
Proton VPN has also pointed out it’ll adjust the availability of its free servers as necessary to accommodate any alterations in election timelines. This ensures that citizens in the selected countries will have access to secure VPN services in line with the updated schedules of their respective elections.
“We want to ensure everyone can access accurate information before they go to the polls, which is why Proton VPN will support voters wherever we can by providing free VPN servers in countries with a history of censorship or political interference in the weeks leading up to their election,” the company explained in a blog announcing the free VPN servers.
The company says the reason it’s dedicated to making this move is because “we made seven predictions for what would happen to the internet this year, two of which were increased censorship and AI-powered misinformation campaigns. If the elections in January and February are any indication, we may have underestimated how prevalent these issues would be.”
Proton VPN has plenty of features that protect your privacy online, including an obfuscation feature that hides your VPN traffic from the government. It already offers a free plan that randomly connects you to one of 5 countries — the US, the Netherlands, Japan, Romania, and Poland. If you’re looking for a good free VPN, check out our full list of the best free VPNs here.
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- Source: https://www.safetydetectives.com/news/proton-offers-free-vpn-servers-ahead-of-elections/
