How censorship is taking hold in Senegal and boosting VPNs

The postponement of the presidential election in Senegal decided unilaterally by President Macky Sall and the repression that followed had a surprising consequence. The use of VPNs has exploded in the country.

By deciding to postpone the presidential elections just a few weeks before the supposed date of their holding, the Senegalese president logically triggered a protest movement in his country, which he notably attempted to channel by limiting access to the Internet and simply removing access to telephone networks. So, to be able to continue to organize or simply to be informed, opponents have massively turned to VPNs.

The Senegalese government is trying to control the Internet

If the announcement of the postponement of this election decided unilaterally by Macky Sall took everyone by surprise, the gigantic demonstrations which followed this announcement are not, however, a surprise. It must be said that this is not the first blow dealt by the Senegalese authorities to the holding of free elections, while one of the main opposition figures, Ousmane Sonko, is behind bars and cannot therefore stand. to present.

The current Senegalese president, who cannot run for a third time, must not have been very surprised by the scale of the protest movements at this announcement: it was another popular movement which, in 2012, had him first brought to power and prevented his predecessor Abdoulaye Wade from running for a third term. So to try to stem the revolt, he brought out the security arsenal: fierce repression of demonstrations, which has left at least 3 dead since the start of the movement, but also censorship of independent media and access to the Internet. Internet access using mobile data was notably cut last Monday, before finally being restored.

800% increase in registrations at Proton VPN

It has been at least 15 years now that the vast majority of social movements have been organized at least in part around the Internet, and it is therefore less and less rare to see regimes cut off access in the event of movements. of protest, and Senegal is no exception to the rule. And obviously, for companies that develop VPNs, advertising in this type of situation happens on its own.

In any case, this is what the figures shared by Proton VPN suggest. They show that the number of users registered with its service since February 4, the day after Macky Sall’s announcement, has increased by 800%. This trend is far from being an exception, and such tools allowing one to escape the censorship of a more or less authoritarian power have had their moment of glory in other countries. Also in Pakistan, a comparable increase in registrations was noted in January, when a total blackout of social networks was decided in the country.

Source : ProtonVPN, France 24, 20 minutes