Proton VPN sign-ups in PH spike 1,400% during Discord block

• Courtesy of Proton VPN

Proton VPN recorded a massive surge in sign-ups from the Philippines as Filipino users turned to virtual private networks during the government’s brief blocking of Discord.

The Switzerland-based VPN provider said hourly sign-ups from the Philippines peaked at more than 1,400 percent above the same hour a week earlier, while daily sign-ups climbed nearly 300 percent above its normal baseline.

Proton VPN said sign-ups had been tracking close to normal in the weeks before the restriction but began rising sharply late on September 22, around the time uncertainty grew over whether Discord would remain accessible in the country.

“Our own data on hourly signups from the Philippines mirrors this timeline closely,” Proton VPN technology writer Douglas Crawford wrote in a report published September 25.

“This kind of spike is a familiar pattern,” Crawford said, explaining that users tend to turn to VPN services when widely used platforms suddenly become inaccessible.

The surge followed the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center’s move to require Discord and Reddit to establish a Philippine presence and direct coordination mechanisms with authorities. Access to Discord was subsequently blocked by some Philippine telecommunications providers on September 23.

The CICC ordered the restriction lifted on September 24 after talks with Discord. The platform committed to establishing a Philippine presence, designating a local point person and strengthening its coordination with Philippine authorities on online safety and cybercrime investigations.

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BREAKING: Discord banned in PH — CICC

Proton VPN said its Philippine sign-ups remained significantly above their pre-block baseline even after the lifting order, which it attributed to the uneven restoration of access across different networks and some users continuing to use VPNs as a precaution.

The Proton VPN Observatory separately recorded a 270-percent increase above baseline in VPN activity from the Philippines linked to the Discord restriction.