Facebook Ban Test Drives 1,900% VPN Surge in Papua New Guinea

vpnMentor's Research Team observed a sudden 1,900% surge in VPN demand in Papua New Guinea. The increase came about right after the government shut down Facebook as a "test" conducted under the country's anti-terrorism laws.

Key Facts:

• From Monday, the 24th, through Tuesday, the 25th, Papua New Guinea's government shut down Facebook as a "test". The government cited an increase in hate speech, misinformation, pornography, and "other detrimental content," as the reasons behind the temporary ban.
• Facebook is the country’s most widely used social media platform, with an estimated 1.4 million users, according to the World Population Review. This represents about half of the country's estimated 2.6 million internet users. For comparison, Instagram has approximately 106,000 users.
• The Facebook ban was conducted under the country's anti-terrorism laws. However, it comes amid concerns over declining press freedom in PNG, where social media has increasingly become a vital space for public discourse.

Papua New Guinea's National Information and Communications Technology Authority revealed amidst the ban that it was unaware of the government's plans, despite the police minister's assertion that the department backed the move.

Papua New Guineans circumvented the Facebook ban by using virtual private networks (VPNs). vpnMentor’s Research Team monitored the situation and found that demand for VPN services increased by just over 1,900%. This surge began the last hour of Sunday the 23th, continued through all Monday the 24th, and peaked late Tuesday the 25th before immediately declining as the ban was lifted.

As shown in the chart above, the heightened demand for VPNs only lasted for the two days that the ban was in place.

Past VPN Demand Growths

vpnMentor’s Research Team has identified and documented various instances of surges in VPN demand linked to protests, social media bans, and limited access to specific applications or websites.

In a recent case, following a countrywide internet restriction imposed by the Turkish government, we observed a 10,000% surge in the demand of VPN services in the country.

vpnMentor neither encourages nor condones using VPNs for illegal activities, such as bypassing laws or regulations.