The people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) turned to mass VPN services because access to Tiktok and X applications has been restricted.
Proton VPN, one of the best VPN services to bypass these types of Internet blocks, recorded an increase in registrations of 7000% above the basic line, from Saturday February 1, 2025 – The day restrictions would have started .
“While the conflict intensifies in the Democratic Republic of Congo, people turn to VPNs to bypass rumor blocks in X and Tiktok,” David Peterson, CEO of Proton VPN, Techradar told Techradar.
The judgment only occurred a few days after the rebel group of the M23 (supposed to be supported by Rwanda) took control of Goma during a major climbing in the conflict during the years, Al Jazeera reported.
At the time of writing the editorial’s moment, the real cause of blocking is not clear, because no official declaration has been published. Congolese users on social networks, however, have difficulty accessing social media across the country for at least two days.
As reported by the local website Actuite.CD, the African Africa Higher Council of Audiovisual and Communication said that it did not have specific information on the origin of these blockages. Nevertheless, the Congolese authorities recently criticized social platforms, in particular Tiktok, for the lack of control over their content.
Peterson said: “Governments and regimes blocking access to social media to control their citizen’s access to information and communication are now too common in terms of the world crisis. But people turn to VPNs to preserve their free internet access, as we see here in Dr. Congo.
A virtual private network (VPN) is, in fact, security software that encrypts your Internet connections, while usurping your real IP address location. This last competence is exactly what is necessary to bypass restrictions like those in place in Dr Congo.
Google Play limited
While the citizens of Dr Congo are increasingly looking to download VPN applications, access to these resources can also be restricted.
On Monday, February 3, 2025, the Internet Watchdog Netblocks reported that Google Play Store is also blocked “in an apparent offer to prevent users from downloading VPN applications to bypass X and Tiktok targeting restrictions.”
⚠️ Confirmed: the metrics show that the Google Play Store is now limited in Dr Congo in an apparent offer to prevent users from downloading VPN applications to bypass the targeting restrictions X and Tiktok; The incident comes in the midst of the troubles, the combustion of the embassies and a rebellious occupation in the east #RDC pic.twitter.com/o37O82NCSFFebruary 3, 2025
Commenting on this, Peterson de Proton VPN said that the team was closely monitoring the situation, stressing how an obstacle to access to VPN “would be a blow for people’s right to access information.”
He said: “Right now, the Proton VPN seems to work well in Dr Congo. If a VPN block on the Google Play Store or the VPN Proton website is materialized, we recommend that people download the Proton VPN application directly From GitHub.
In the event that adhesion on VPN applications is intensifying, I suggest consulting alternative bypass software. Tools like the Tor and Freebrowser browser (Android only), for example, can also help you get around Internet restrictions and are completely free to use.
