US, UK, and France Record Highest VPN Demand Surge in 2025

NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2025 — Fragile geopolitical situations have often led to a scenario were administrations world-over have barred both mobile data and wired internet services or just restricted access to selected websites.

Regulatory curbs to snap access to certain “blacklisted sites”, has been seen to become a reason for people of different countries use Virtual Private Network, or VPN.

In times of a huge dependence on digital services and e-commerce, internet, which has become a lifeline, is no more a luxury. The internet blockade is not restricted to just developing and smaller countries but one among the first line of defense for authorities in developed nations to control law and order.

There has been a major role of think-tanks, advocacy groups and rights organizations to be vocal about internet censorship. The representatives of these groups have approached court of law, where arguments have taken place over litigations challenging government-ordered curbs.

However, there has been no concrete outcome which could deter a particular government from banning internet services.

Amid the activism hullaballoo, the only measure that has comes to the respite of internet users to get an uninterrupted access is VPN.

Data from website Top10VPN shows that on July 17, the introduction of new online age verification requirements led to a momentary increase of almost 2,000 per cent of VPN search volume in the United Kingdom, while a similar law change led to volumes in France spiking by 570 per cent on June 5. Ongoing protests and unrest in Iran which has led to the authorities restricting internet access reached a high point on June 15, when VPN search volume rose 707 percent over the previous month's level. The short-lived US TikTok ban saw search volumes soar up 827 per cent on January 19.

Know More About Reasons Why VPN Usage Increased

Censorship: Enforcement of new laws requiring adult websites to verify the age of users visiting from that location made Texas the latest US state to bring in the norm.

Demand for VPN services increased almost four-fold on March 15, jumping 275 percent compared to the daily average over the 28 days prior, in the wake of a court decision allowing the law to come into force. Demand remained almost as high (252 percent) on March 16 compared to the average. By March 17, VPN demand in Texas had softened slightly but was still 169 percent above average.

Mandatory Due Diligence: VPN gained huge traction in France at the time when new age-verification laws for adult websites took effect in the country.

Demand for VPNs immediately increased by 334 per cent on June 4 as French access to some of the most popular adult websites was blocked, compared to the daily average over the previous 28 days.

VPN demand was higher still the following day (June 5) at 570 per cent above normal levels before dropping off on June 6 to 168 per cent above the 28-day average prior to the websites being blocked. France joined several U.S. states, such as Alabama, Texas, North Carolina and Montana, in experiencing major spikes in VPN demand after introducing age-verification laws.

Site Blacklisting: The demand for VPN skyrocketed in the U.S. on January 19 as U.S. servers of TikTok were shut down in response to a government ban.

Demand for VPNs increased 827 per cent during the wee hours of the morning as U.S. TikTok users woke up to experience blocked access to their accounts receiving error messages.

This spike is noticeable considering the strong baseline level of VPN demand in the U.S.

As cyberwalls have been strengthened, the VPNs lost the strength to easily bypass the TikTok ban. On social media, TikTok users complained that VPNs weren’t working for them unless they were part of complex workarounds.

What Are the Key Aspects of VPNs?

The sight of censored websites or limited access to internet is a nightmare for internet users. Switching over to VPN is a tried and tested method that has helped them to break the curbs.

However, it could also prove to be counterproductive as use of unsafe VPNs to bypass the restrictions can land a user in trouble.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use a number of methods to implement restrictions following government orders to do so. The way internet users respond to these restrictions is to rely on VPN, which works by encrypting a user’s internet connection and changing their IP address.

Unless an ISP is able to block every single IP address used by a VPN service or identify VPN traffic and block it, then a VPN will allow a user to easily access sites and apps blocked using IP and DNS filtering.

Governments will often try to block VPN downloads during a social media shutdown. It’s therefore important for net users to be prepared and download a trustworthy and reliable VPN that works in their country before an internet outage takes place.

The introduction of new online age verification requirements led to a momentary increase of almost 2,000 percent of VPN search volume in the United Kingdom, while a similar law change led to volumes in France spiking by 570 percent on June 5.

Inputs from Saqib Malik

Editing by David Ryder