- VPNs no longer work in Uganda as internet shutdown intensifies
- After 8,000% spike, Proton VPN confirms disruption
- Digital rights experts warn that workarounds are now very limited
VPNs have stopped working in Uganda as internet blackouts intensified in the country in the run-up to elections.
The ongoing internet outage follows a surge in interest in privacy tools, with Proton VPN seeing a massive increase in registrations in the country, peaking at 8,000 new users per hour on Tuesday.
Speaking to TechRadar, Proton VPN CEO David Peterson confirmed that internet connectivity dropped significantly on Wednesday, rendering VPNs unusable.
“Uganda followed the recent trend started by Iran and Afghanistan, where governments seeking to silence opposition and act without global oversight have gone beyond website bans and VPN restrictions to pulling the plug on the Internet altogether,” Peterson said.
Why did VPN stop working in Uganda?
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) on Tuesday ordered internet service and mobile network providers to suspend access to the internet. Social media platforms, messaging apps, video streaming sites and even satellite internet connections have all been impacted.
People first managed to use VPN apps to overcome certain restrictions. However, internet access has since become “almost completely unavailable”, according to the latest Cloudflare Radar data.
Felicia Anthonio, head of the global #KeepItOn campaign at Access Now, warned: “This amounts to a complete internet blackout, rendering VPNs ineffective as they rely on some form of connectivity to function and plunging millions of people into digital darkness. »
What can Ugandans do?
Workarounds for Ugandans are extremely limited at the moment.
Anthonio warned that the shutdown is “comprehensive, in terms of scale, scope and impact”, confirming that authorities have also blocked roaming services and satellite connections often used to circumvent restrictions.
Although some reports indicate that people have used Bluetooth-based peer-to-peer mesh networking applications, like Bitchat, to communicate without the Internet, Anthonio says these are “not a replacement for open Internet access.”
The democratic stakes could not be higher. “Deliberately cutting the country off from the rest of the world just days before a highly anticipated election is a profound betrayal and blatant disregard for democracy,” Anthonio told TechRadar.
“Without [internet access]the incumbent president is given an unfair advantage, the opposition is silenced, voters are denied crucial information, journalists and election observers are unable to report and monitor, and human rights organizations are unable to monitor and document human rights violations in a timely manner.
Anthonio urges citizens to document events and abuse offline where safe to do so, ensuring that evidence can be shared once connectivity is restored.
Follow TechRadar on Google News And add us as your favorite source to get our news, reviews and expert opinions in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
