India blocks Proton VPN GM's X account amid sign-up surge
What's the story
David Peterson, the General Manager of Proton VPN, has seen his X account suspended in India. The action comes after he revealed that the company witnessed a massive spike in sign-ups following India's temporary ban on Telegram ahead of the NEET re-test. Peterson had claimed that hourly registrations for Proton VPN surged by 150% on Tuesday night after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) banned Telegram "over leaked exam questions."
VPN popularity
Telegram ban leads to spike in VPN usage in India
The ban on Telegram has led to a spike in VPN usage in India. This is because these services allow users to mask their geolocation and access blocked websites or platforms like Proton VPN. On June 16, sign-ups for Proton VPN rose by 120%, and the next day saw an even bigger jump of 150%, according to the company's official X account. Downloads of major VPN apps also surged by 49% from a recent daily average of 139,000 to 208,000.
Download surge
Increases for other major VPN apps
Proton VPN and Turbo VPN saw some of the biggest spikes in downloads. On Apple's App Store in India, Proton VPN downloads jumped by 113%, while those for Turbo VPN rose by 85%. On Google Play, Proton's downloads climbed by 64% and Turbo's increased by 35%. NordVPN's App Store downloads rose by 41%, while ExpressVPN's on Google Play increased by 31%.
Ranking boost
Proton VPN's rise in app-store rankings
The surge in demand also pushed several VPN services up India's app-store charts. Proton VPN climbed from 18th to 5th in Apple's Utilities rankings between June 16 and June 18, while its Google Play ranking rose from 8th to second in the Tools category, according to Appfigures. The spike in demand followed India's decision to temporarily restrict Telegram until June 22 over concerns that fraudsters were using the platform for cheating ahead of a re-test for NEET.