- Internet freedom has worsened once again in 2025
- Online anonymity is increasingly under attack globally
- VPNs are also a target
Internet freedom continued to decline in 2025, marking the 15th consecutive year of worsening conditions, according to Freedom House’s new report.
The report reveals that the Internet is now more controlled than ever before, with “an increasing number of the world’s governments placing restrictions on online anonymity,” noted Freedom House.
In this context, the use of censorship-resistant technology, including the best VPN services, has become essential. At the same time, however, VPN use is increasingly under attack.
Therefore, in a report published last June, Freedom House and the European University Institute examined restrictions on tools for circumventing censorship.
“We found that out of the 72 Freedom on the Net countries, authorities in 21 have sought to block access to VPNs or censorship circumvention tools within the past five years,” confirmed Freedom House senior research analyst Kian Vestinsson.
Online anonymity is under attack
In this year’s Freedom of the Net report, researchers focused on the global decline in online anonymity.
That’s troubling, according to Freedom House, because “restrictions on anonymity pose a direct threat to online privacy, freedom of expression, and access to information, and could further carve up the global Internet based on differing national rules of participation.”
A particularly significant limitation includes moves by countries such as the UK, several US states, Italy and (soon) Australia to enforce mandatory age verification.
Although these laws are intended to protect children online, experts have warned of the unintended consequences for people’s data privacy, security and freedom of expression.
A hack of the third-party services Discord uses for age verification in the UK resulted in the breach of 70,000 users’ identity documents, serving as a stark reminder of the security risks that come with age verification.
“This risk is already present and ahead of us,” Vesteinsson said. “Policymakers should instead seek options that bridge the gap between child protection and fundamental rights.”
Vietnam and China went even further, introducing legislation requiring identity verification just to post content on social media.
During the report’s coverage period (June 2024-May 2025), Freedom House also found that “governments from across the democratic spectrum put limits on tools that make online privacy possible.”
Measures include the UK serving an encryption backdoor order on Apple, a demand that provoked the Big Tech giant to remove its advanced end-to-end encryption protection for iCloud.
Globally, between January 2020 and March 2025, people in 17 of the 72 countries covered by Freedom on the Net reported blocks on end-to-end encrypted communication platforms, such as Signal and Proton Mail.
VPNs and encryption – the main goal
Once again, Freedom House has painted a bleak picture of how the Internet is changing.
Virtual private networks (VPN) and encrypted messaging apps are becoming important tools for promoting digital rights worldwide. But they are increasingly the target of governments, including those in Western democracies.
For the first time, some US states – including Wisconsin and Michigan – are considering a requirement to block VPN traffic to make their age verification laws more effective. At the same time, the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, confirmed to TechRadar that it had begun monitoring VPN use.
Encrypted messaging apps are also increasingly under threat in Europe as lawmakers continue to push for the controversial Chat Control bill with a new proposal, despite constant pushback from the privacy and cybersecurity industry.
“This trend is ongoing but not irreversible,” said Annie Boyajian, president of Freedom House. “However, it is clear that we have reached a critical moment and that the deterioration will not stop unless governments and the private sector do more to protect internet freedom.”
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