Where are VPNs Legal and Illegal?

To protect internet activities, multiple countries permit the use of virtual private networks (VPNs). However, it is not legal in a few countries, including those governed by authoritarian governments.

In this post, we’ll look at which countries have banned VPNs and which allow them to be used.

What is a VPN?

Before delving into why VPNs are banned in some countries, it’s important to know what they are and what they can achieve. A VPN protects your internet activities by keeping them private, anonymous, and secure. One way it does this is by changing your IP address.

A VPN scrambles legible data and makes it unintelligible to prevent unwanted parties from obtaining any information by encrypting what you send and receive while online. To do this, it uses a cryptographic key, which allows any plain text received from the sender to be turned into ciphertext using mathematical values.

To be successful, encryption should be complicated enough that bots or programs cannot break the ciphertext by brute force harm (or trial-and-error guessing using any possible combination). A VPN makes it more difficult for hackers to break passwords or decode your sensitive data.

VPNs are used for a wide range of applications. You can unblock video streaming in addition to changing regions for watching US TV outside of the US.

Why Some Countries Ban VPNs

VPN use is still somewhat restricted in the United States and other countries that allow them. Illegal download and streaming of content with copyright issues are not permitted. It is also prohibited to use the dark web for trading illegal services or products. Finally, encouraging cyberbullying or engaging in harmful acts such as hacking is illegal and punished by law.

However, in some countries, VPN is prohibited or severely restricted for the following reasons:

The state government has strict censorship regulations.
Authoritarian rule provides total authority over citizens.
Protection of religiously based moral norms and values
Insurgency and terrorism prevention

In most cases, using a VPN in a country where it is banned is punished by law. In strongly controlled areas, however, there may be no direct fines from the government, but there may be indirect repercussions such as disconnect and warnings.

List of Countries Where VPN is Illegal

The fact that countries that have prohibited the usage of VPNs all have authoritarian governments in common. Here is an updated list of all countries where the usage of a VPN is prohibited:

Belarus – made VPNs and The Onion Router (Tor) illegal in 2015; organized protests are also prohibited.
China – the country’s “Great Firewall” restricts information by blocking websites such as Google and Facebook, as well as VPN services; some VPN operators have been prosecuted.
Iraq – declared VPNs, as well as social networking sites and messaging applications, to be illegal.
North Korea – prohibited the internet and only permits access to a government intranet; visitors can use 3G but not a VPN.
Russia – prohibited VPNs since 2017 to defend against politically biased material.

Here is an updated list of every country having strict VPN use policies:

Egypt – allows VPN use but is known for prohibiting services and websites.
Iran – only permits residents to use VPNs provided by government-approved service providers; the government prohibits Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube but is more concerned about the cyber insurrection.
Oman – strongly regulators the internet, but permits VPN use as long as the service is approved by the Sultanate.
Turkey – allows the usage of VPNs but has punished VPN services by banning them.
Turkmenistan – formally prohibited VPNs in 2015; maintains just one state-sponsored ISP; claims of restricted VPN access have previously been recorded.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) – allows VPNs but has regulations prohibiting their usage in committing crimes or accessing information that degrades the country’s moral standards.