Proton VPN free in Sri Lanka leading up to presidential election

Proton is offering VPN servers for free in Sri Lanka and other countries leading up to the elections in the coming months. Sri Lanka is one of several countries that have a national election coming up over the next few months. “Proton VPN will support voters wherever we can by providing free VPN servers in countries with a history of censorship or political interference,” says the company.

According to Proton, its Smart Routing technology enables the company to offer VPN servers in countries it doesn’t owing to “poor legal protections” or “unstable infrastructure.” With Smart Routing, Proton VPN uses servers in neighboring countries to simulate the IP address of that particular countries. “When using a Smart Routing server, you will appear to access the internet from that location and benefit from all the features and security advantages of using Proton VPN,” says the company in a blog post.

Curbing censorship

Censorship amid political turmoil and uncertainty isn’t new nor is it uncommon, particularly when it comes to today’s digital landscape. Pakistan and Senegal repeatedly blocked social media in an effort to crackdown online dissent. More recently, Bangladesh shutdown its internet to curb the protests, until mobile internet was restored 11 days later.

Of course, Sri Lanka is no stranger to censoring online platforms either. The #gohomegota2022 protests prompted a brief social media ban followed by a seemingly botched shutdown attempt a couple of months later. Similar internet restrictions took place on several previous occasions such as during the Digana riots in 2018 and the Easter Sunday bombing in 2019.

However, despite the history it’s highly unlikely to expect an online platform restriction in any form in lieu of the upcoming election. But the availability of Proton VPN for free is a welcome addition, albeit briefly, especially to those keen on online privacy.

Sri Lanka’s next presidential election is set to be held on the 21 September, 2024 and anyone in Sri Lanka can utilize Proton VPN from 7 September to 28 September at no cost. While its availability is limited to three weeks for Sri Lankans, the VPN would typically cost you between $4.49 a month ($132 annual) to $9.99 a month.