- The i2Coalition has published a new report to map the collateral damage to DNS blocking and other internet restrictions around the world
- Some European governments and the United States actively debate blocking in terms of infrastructure as an anti-piratorship solution
- Experts urge the world community to help them document these incidents
From the judgment of online dissent and illegal content to the violation of copyright and children’s security, governments around the world have turned more and more to blocking practices that target the basic Internet infrastructure to pursue their political objectives. However, even when they are deployed with the best intentions, these measures are not only considered ineffective, but also to cause collateral “involuntary and deep” damage.
This is the warning of a new report published by i2Coalition (Internet Infrastructure Coalition). The group wants to shed light on what it describes as an “alarming trend” of governments around the world in armament DNS resolvers and even the best VPN services as application tools.
“This report is an alarm clock,” said Christian Dawson, Executive Director of I2Coalition. “DNS resolvers are neutral infrastructure – not censorship tools.
From DNS to VPN blocking – How the authorities block internet
As the report shows, the internet blocking tactics extend from DNS -based restrictions, application to IP level and even filtering focused on AI. Nevertheless, experts highlight the blocking of DNS as the most used mechanism.
Abbreviation of the domain name system, we can consider a DNS as the Internet telephone directory. It translates user requests into numbers – IP addresses – to connect them with the right websites.
DNS servers are at the heart of the Internet infrastructure because they allow users to browse the Internet. This is exactly why these services have become a target of censors such as Russia, Iran and China, first, and now, duties and legislators behind children’s security policies.
Some European countries, including Italy, Spain and France, have used more and more such infrastructure blocks against hacked or other content. The United States is also currently debating a bill to use similar blocking methods against copyright violation.
The blocking of the DNS, however, is not only according to ruing internet experts, but also ineffective. Indeed, these blocks at the network level only hide rather than deleting the content, which remains online and accessible by other means.
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After a successful legal action against the DNS services in 2024, on May 15, 2025, the Paris court supported the request for Canal + and ordered five VPN – NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, VPN of Proton and Cyberghost – Blocking Access to 203 Domains of illegal Sports Sites.
Increasingly, Internet users have learned to use virtual private network tools, which allow users to use their IP addresses and get around these restrictions. Consequently, VPNs now become the next target of the authorities.
Russian authorities have been particularly active in reducing the use of VPN services. A law which was applied in March 2024 to criminalize the dissemination of information on the means of bypassing the restrictions on the Internet, in particular, led to an escalation of the Battle of Russia against VPN, many applications being withdrawn from official application stores.
In Europe, rights in Italy and France have so far targeted DNS and VPN suppliers in their fight against online hacking.
Again, although the motivations behind differ, the involuntary consequences seem to be the same. As the i2Coalition notes in the report: “These measures are too often implemented without legal or technical clarification, transparency or responsibility, resulting in overwhelming, fragmentation and collateral damage.”
In Italy, for example, the country’s hacking shield has caused widespread breakdowns on other platforms such as Google Drive. Then, depending on the decision to Obligning VPN and DNS suppliers to block the hacked content, a VPN supplier (AirVPN) had already stopped accepting new Italian subscribers.
The report explores this and other examples of internet overblocking and fragmentation across Europe (France, Spain, Austria and Portugal), as well as case studies from Russia, Malaysia, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Myanmar, Venezuela and even the United States.
“The global Internet depends on common protocols, confidence and neutrality in the infrastructure layer,” said Dawson. “This initiative highlights where it breaks – and what we can do about it.”
Dawson now urges the world community to “help repel evidence and clarity” by documenting these incidents. You can do so by heading to the nsatrisk.org platform that the group has just created.
