Many Brazilians downloaded the best VPN apps when X (formerly known as Twitter) announced its decision to close its offices in Brazil on Saturday, August 17, due to a months-long censorship dispute. But this appears to have been only the first disruption to people’s online lives.
At the same time, some VPN providers have reportedly disappeared from the local Apple App Store – preventing iPhone users from downloading the application. According to Simone Magliano, head of research at Top10VPN, at least 30 VPN apps are now unavailable, including TechRadar favorites NordVPN, ExpressVPN and Surfshark, although their store listings remain accessible.
“While this certainly indicates a problem on Apple’s part, it has not yet been confirmed whether it is intentional and due to a government order,” Migliano told me.
That’s why Apple’s anti-competitive app store policies, which enforce a de facto monopoly on app distribution, are so problematic. If Apple (always) puts business interests above freedom, entire countries will be cut off from the open internet. https://t.co/58HO3INWfo19 August 2024
One of the most popular free VPN services, Proton VPN, acknowledged the issue a day after X’s announcement, confirming that the problem occurred at the app store level. “Could be a bug or Apple is enforcing a secret censorship order,” the team wrote in a tweet (see above).
Despite these issues, the Swiss VPN provider confirmed to TechRadar that it has seen a 580% increase in Proton VPN signups over baseline since Saturday, matching a similar increase in April, when Brazilian VPN usage surged following Musk’s own suggestions after Brazil launched an investigation into his behavior.
It’s worth noting that it’s not uncommon for Apple to comply with blocking orders from authorities. In the most recent of these cases, the Big Tech giant reportedly removed VPN apps in Russia from the official store.
Again, it’s not clear at the time of writing whether Apple is responding to Brazilian orders. “If these VPN blocks in Brazil are indeed intentional, they would also cause users to switch to less reputable VPNs that are still available and can expose their personal information,” Migliano said.
There are still VPN apps available to install in the Apple App Store, including some secure options like Windscribe, Private Internet Access (PIA), and Mullvad. You can find Migliano’s full list here.
Is X still available in Brazil?
Despite the social media giant’s decision to cease its nationwide operations, the team has confirmed that “the X service remains available to the Brazilian population.”
This means that whether you live in the country or are currently visiting, you should have no problems accessing the social media app as usual.
However, the chances that this will soon change are high. Brazil has already imposed temporary bans on online services that have not complied with its demands. Telegram was temporarily blocked in April last year because it did not release data from neo-Nazi chats.
With that in mind, I recommend getting a reliable VPN app as soon as possible to avoid any issues and ensure reliable access to X (and other social media platforms).
Last night, Alexandre de Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we did not comply with his censorship orders. He did so in a secret order that we are publishing here to expose his actions. Although our numerous appeals to the Supreme Court have not been heard,… pic.twitter.com/Pm2ovyydhE17 August 2024
How a VPN can help
A VPN, short for virtual private network, is security software that encrypts internet connections and spoofs a user’s real IP address. The latter is exactly what you need to bypass government-imposed geo-restrictions.
If Brazil blocks X at some point, all you need to do is connect to a VPN server in a country where there are no restrictions. X will then detect your fake IP address and assume that you are physically located in the same location as the server you chose.
So far, there have been no reported issues with downloading Android VPN apps from the Google Play Store, but if you are an iPhone user, you may need to find an alternative or some workarounds to get the app you want.
Migliano recommends being extremely cautious when choosing an alternative service. “Be careful and read the reviews first because the VPNs available are a mixed bag. Some are very good, others pose a real risk to your privacy,” he told me.
A temporary solution for tech-savvy individuals could also be to “manually set up a VPN on your iOS device using a third-party client such as the official WireGuard app,” he added.
Proton VPN has put together its own guide with practical tips for its users. However, it is worth downloading a VPN app directly from the provider’s homepage if possible.
We test and review VPN services for legal recreational use. For example:
1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).
2. Protect your online security and strengthen your online privacy abroad.
We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. The consumption of paid pirated content is neither supported nor condoned by Future Publishing.
