Defend VPNs Day of Action 2026 drives action for privacy online

As censorship laws sweep the globe, VPN users & providers demand lawmakers stop restricting critical privacy tool.

On Friday, September 25th, digital rights organization Fight for the Future held its second annual Defend VPNs Day of Action in protest of the rising threat to VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) globally. This year, thousands of users once again took action to demand governments stop restricting this vital privacy tool, with VPN providers including Surfshark, Windscribe, and Amnezia joining in to amplify the need for action.

In the last year:

• Utah became the first U.S. state to force websites to surveil or block all suspected VPN traffic.
• Wisconsin narrowly avoided passing a VPN ban with its controversial age verification bill, while Michigan’s proposed total VPN ban remains in play.
• Australian lawmakers flirted with “closing the VPN loophole,” as thousands of young people circumvented the world’s first social media ban for youth under 16.
• Brazil made VPN usage an “aggravating factor” in crimes.
• The UK government seriously considered a VPN ban and is still considering restricting VPN use to bypass age-gating.
• Social media bans for young people went into effect in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the UAE, and were proposed in France, Massachusetts, and dozens more jurisdictions, setting the stage for even greater VPN scrutiny.

The Day of Action underscores how seriously VPN users and providers are taking not only outright VPN restrictions and bans, but also the draconian censorship laws that often precede them.

Online ID check laws have gained steam on the global stage as lawmakers laud plans to “keep kids safe” by locking sites behind a demand for users’ government IDs or even face scans. But as demonstrated countless times, the content lawmakers choose to censor is at best, overly broad, and at worst, politically targeted, leaving millions to choose between their privacy and access to their favorite game, forum, or online community. Online ID checks also strip youth of their rights to organize and build online community, particularly putting LGBTQ+ and marginalized youth at risk.

As users hear of the disastrous data leaks, privacy breaches, and discrimination resulting from mandatory ID checks, it’s no wonder more and more people are turning to VPNs to protect their privacy and access to information. But VPNs aren’t just a loophole for age checks. They enable millions of people to work, report, organize, and resist authoritarian censorship, helping guarantee safe and private browsing as a right. Lawmakers must stand down from restricting VPNs and promoting the dangerous censorship bills that put them in the crosshairs.

Fight for the Future leads a coalition of over 100 human rights, reproductive justice, LGBTQ+, and digital rights organizations fighting back against online ID check mandates or “age verification” policies. The organization plans to host the Defend VPNs Day of Action annually for as long as VPNs are under attack and mobilize its coalition of VPN Defenders as threats develop.

“The most vulnerable people in every country in the world depend on VPNs, to communicate with their families and friends, to seek healthcare and abortion care, and find the information and resources that are increasingly gated behind an invasive biometric scan or ID check,” said Sarah Philips, Campaign Director at Fight for the Future.

“People are wary of the world we are looking at, where our data is being collected by exploitative Big Tech companies and sold to a company that could spike our insurance payments or what our grocery store charges us for bananas. What we look at and every site we visit could be used against us by ICE or our oppressive governments. In order to scroll through a subreddit, look at a cousin’s baby picture on Instagram, or play video games on Discord, we might have to upload a government ID to a sketchy third party service we know could be hacked or directly to the tech company we’re being told not to trust for good reason.

VPNs are a basic, necessary, and vital tool to protect us from everything from the most serious criminalization at the hands of an oppressive government hellbent on surveilling and censoring dissent to just wanting to protect ourselves from the steady leak of our data to be exploited. Using VPNs is not criminal. Using VPNs is a right that must be defended at all costs from governments who are doing their best to break down what little privacy we have in the current tech landscape.”

Chris Miller, CMO at vp.net said: “Every age verification law builds a database of IDs, and every VPN ban tries to take away one of the few tools people have to stay out of it. Lawmakers are treating privacy like a loophole to close. It’s a basic human right, and a VPN is one of the simplest ways to protect it.”

The following can be attributed to Amnezia:

“Amnezia started in Russia as a technological response to the censorship machine. Launched by digital rights enthusiasts, our project has been supported by journalists, activists, and human rights defenders. We know firsthand how important VPNs are for these groups, who often work on sensitive issues. But VPNs matter far beyond them: they are an essential tool for protecting internet traffic and privacy for millions of people. Companies use VPNs to secure remote work, people rely on them to stay safe on public Wi-Fi, and many protect their privacy by combining VPNs with other online security tools.

We support the Defend VPNs Day of Action and thank Fight for the Future for the work they do. We believe that VPNs are an essential tool and a fundamental part of digital human rights.

In countries with censorship, a VPN is not just a privacy tool but a vital way to access information free from propaganda. That is why authorities there block VPNs: they use web filtering to block VPN protocols, remove VPN apps from app stores and ban VPN advertising.

Working in regions where VPNs face constant crackdowns allows us to see what happens under such restrictions. When well-known, trusted services stop working, people download whatever app promises to do the job — often unknown free apps with no transparency about who runs them or what happens to user data. This puts their devices and personal data at serious risk.

Our experience shows how rapidly censorship can grow — from rare, well-justified protection measures to mass blocking and limitations on digital freedoms and free speech.

In 2012 Russia passed a law to protect children from harmful information and created a registry of blocked websites for that purpose. A year and a half later, the same blocking system was used against opposition media. We know the situation in Western countries is different, but we have seen firsthand how each law becomes a precedent for the next.”

“A free and open internet is worth defending, and VPNs are the first line of defense. That’s why Obscura VPN is proud to stand with Fight for the Future to defend every person’s right to privacy.” –Carl Dong, Founder, Obscura VPN.