- Internet freedoms have worsened once again in 2025
- Online anonymity is increasingly under attack worldwide
- VPNs are also a target
Internet freedoms continued to decline in 2025, marking the 15th consecutive year of worsening conditions, according to the new Freedom House report.
The report reveals that the Internet is now more controlled than ever and that “an increasing number of governments around the world are imposing restrictions on online anonymity,” Freedom House noted.
In this context, the use of censorship-resistant technology, including the best VPN services, has become crucial. At the same time, however, VPN use is increasingly under attack.
That’s why, in a report published last June, Freedom House and the European University Institute investigated restrictions on censorship circumvention tools.
“We found that of the 72 Freedom on the Net countries, authorities in 21 have tried to block access to VPNs or censorship circumvention tools in the last five years,” confirmed Freedom House senior research analyst Kian Vestinsson.
Online anonymity is under attack
In this year’s Freedom of the Net report, researchers focused on the global decline in online anonymity.
It’s worrying, according to Freedom House, because “restrictions on anonymity pose a direct threat to online privacy, free expression, and access to information, and could further divide the global Internet based on different national rules of engagement.”
A particularly significant limitation includes moves by countries such as the UK, several US states, Italy and (soon) Australia to impose mandatory age verification.
While these laws are intended to protect children online, experts have warned against unintended consequences for people’s data privacy, safety, and freedom of expression.
An attack on the third-party services that Discord uses for age verification in the United Kingdom resulted in the identity documents of 70,000 users being breached, serving as a stark reminder of the security risks that come with age checks.
“This risk is already present and before us,” Vesteinsson said. “Policymakers should look for options that link child protection with fundamental rights.”
Vietnam and China went even further and enacted laws requiring identity verification only to post content on social media.
During the report’s coverage period (June 2024 to May 2025), Freedom House also found that “governments across the democratic spectrum imposed limits on the tools that make online privacy possible.”
The measures include the UK serving an encryption backdoor order to Apple, a demand that caused the tech giant to remove its advanced end-to-end encryption protection for iCloud.
Globally, between January 2020 and March 2025, people in 17 of the 72 countries covered by the Freedom on the Net report experienced crashes on end-to-end encrypted communication platforms, such as Signal and Proton Mail.
VPN and encryption: the main goal
Once again, Freedom House has painted a bleak picture of how the Internet is changing.
Virtual private networks (VPNs) and encrypted messaging apps are becoming vital tools to promote digital rights around the world. However, they are increasingly being targeted by governments, including those of Western democracies.
For the first time, some US states, including Wisconsin and Michigan, are considering requiring them to block VPN traffic to make their age verification laws more effective. At the same time, UK communications regulator Ofcom confirmed to TechRadar that it had started monitoring VPN usage.
Encrypted messaging apps are also increasingly under threat in Europe as lawmakers continue to push the controversial Chat Control bill with a new proposal, despite continued backlash from the privacy and cybersecurity industries.
“This trend is persistent but not irreversible,” said Annie Boyajian, president of Freedom House. “However, it is clear that we have reached a critical moment and that the deterioration will not stop unless governments and the private sector do more to protect Internet freedom.”
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