Censorship Weekly, Week 27 of 2026: VPN Blocking, LetsVPN, and Global Internet Controls
This is the first edition of the site's weekly censorship-news roundup. Published for Week 27 of 2026, it looks back at important recent reporting and research on VPNs, restricted internet access, censorship, and internet controls around the world. It also establishes the format for future weekly editions.
This article was updated on June 29, 2026. The roundup cites only publicly available reporting, official announcements, and research reports. It does not use older articles from this site as sources or treat community rumors as news. Each item names its sources so readers can check the original material.
Reader notice
This is a news roundup, not a practical guide to bypassing network restrictions. Laws and rules governing VPNs, proxies, and cross-border connectivity differ by jurisdiction. Understand and follow the rules that apply where you are before using any network tool.
The three themes to watch
This edition follows three threads: VPN availability in mainland China and the LetsVPN episode; Russia's combined controls on Telegram, VPNs, app stores, and website access; and the worldwide growth of internet shutdowns and commercially supplied censorship systems.
This Edition at a Glance
China-related developments
- June 4, 2026: ABC reported that VPN users in China were experiencing more frequent instability, with interviewees saying that dependable VPNs had become harder to find. Source: ABC News.
- May 27, 2026: GPPi and ChinaFile analyzed leaked data to assess the scale of VPN use and blocking in China. Sources: GPPi and ChinaFile.
- April 28 and May 8, 2026: LetsVPN announced the end of its mainland China business, then said it had resumed standard global operations while still being unable to guarantee availability in mainland China. Sources: LetsVPN's April 28 announcement, LetsVPN's May 8 announcement, and Central News Agency.
Russia-related developments
- April 2026: Russia intensified restrictions affecting Telegram and VPNs, while some websites began limiting access by VPN users. Sources: OSW and Mediazona.
- March 12, 2026: Human Rights Watch said Russia's regulator had confirmed blocking 469 VPN services used to circumvent censorship. Source: Human Rights Watch.
Global and platform-related developments
- Apple's 2025 report, published in 2026: Apple disclosed that it removed 2,045 apps in response to government takedown demands during 2025, including 1,213 in Russia and 196 in mainland China. Source: Apple's 2025 App Store Transparency Report.
- March 31, 2026: Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition reported at least 313 internet shutdowns across 52 countries during 2025. Source: Access Now.
- September 2025, with the findings still cited in 2026: InterSecLab and WIRED reported on leaked materials linked to Geedge Networks, alleging that commercial censorship systems had been supplied to multiple countries. Sources: InterSecLab and WIRED.
1. ABC: Users Say Stable VPNs Became Harder to Find in June
Keywords: stable VPNs, carrier enforcement, unauthorized VPNs.
In a report published on June 4, 2026, ABC News interviewed VPN users in mainland China and censorship researchers. Some users said previously working VPNs had become unstable. One frequent traveler to mainland China said they had used LetsVPN but needed to switch services after April 2026. The report also quoted U.S.-based censorship researcher Eric Liu as saying that a new VPN crackdown had emerged in April, with telecommunications carriers in some areas instructed to identify and block VPN services. Source: ABC News.
The same ABC article interviewed Deakin University scholar Ihsan Yilmaz. He argued that censorship in China had expanded beyond blocking overseas websites to restricting the means people use to get around the firewall. He cited limits on unauthorized VPNs, interference with VPN connections, the removal of VPN apps from app stores, and penalties imposed on some providers and users. Source: ABC News.
2. GPPi and ChinaFile: Leaked Data Prompts a New Estimate of VPN Use in China
Keywords: VPN adoption, leaked data, officially approved VPNs.
On May 27, 2026, the Global Public Policy Institute published an article that was also carried by ChinaFile. Based on a subset of data in leaked Geedge Networks materials, the authors argued that VPN usage in China might be in the single-digit percentages rather than the 20% to 30% sometimes assumed elsewhere. They also noted that officially approved VPNs remain available for some business and essential connections, but are more readily observable by regulators. Sources: GPPi and ChinaFile.
The GPPi and ChinaFile article also said the leaked materials showed that Geedge had conducted relevant tests in Xinjiang, monitoring internet traffic carried by China Unicom, China Mobile, and China Telecom and recording the domestic and overseas apps users accessed. The authors argued that these materials provide a clearer view of the relationship among VPN blocking, traffic identification, and commercial censorship systems. Sources: GPPi and ChinaFile.
3. LetsVPN: Mainland Business Ended in April; Standard Operations Resumed in May Without an Availability Guarantee
Keywords: mainland business termination, refund start date, availability not guaranteed.
On April 28, 2026, LetsVPN announced that it had been forced to end operations serving mainland China because of continuing network blocking. The company said its team had spent almost every hour of the previous 20 days trying to make adjustments, but had concluded that it could not effectively resolve the connection problem. The announcement set April 8 as the starting date for refund calculations and said the closure of mainland payment channels would not prevent refunds. Source: LetsVPN's April 28 announcement.
Taiwan's Central News Agency also reported the shutdown on April 28. It said LetsVPN attributed the decision to persistent network blocking and stated that repeated efforts had failed to produce an effective solution. CNA added that mainland users had already been unable to connect to information outside China through the service since mid-April. Source: Central News Agency.
On May 8, LetsVPN published another announcement saying that it had resumed “standard operations.” It emphasized, however, that a return to standard global operations did not mean connection quality had fully recovered in every region. The company explicitly said it still could not guarantee service availability in mainland China and advised users to decide based on their own experience. Source: LetsVPN's May 8 announcement.
4. Russia: Telegram and VPN Restrictions Intensified in April
Keywords: Telegram blocking, restrictions on VPN users, service allowlists.
In an analysis published on April 17, 2026, Poland's Centre for Eastern Studies, or OSW, said the Russian government had intensified digital censorship during the first half of April. According to OSW, Telegram had become almost entirely inaccessible to Russian users without circumvention tools, while authorities also targeted the use of VPNs to bypass restrictions. Citing Mediascope data, OSW said Telegram still had more than 94 million users in Russia, but its availability without a VPN fell to a low of 5% during the first ten days of April. Source: OSW.
The same analysis estimated that at least 40% of people in Russia used VPNs. It also said that, beginning in mid-April, more than 20 Russian websites and e-commerce platforms started limiting access by users who relied on VPNs. The affected services reportedly included Gosuslugi, Ozon, Wildberries, Yandex, Sberbank, and VK. Source: OSW.
In a detailed April 7 article on Russian internet censorship, Mediazona described an allowlist-style service regime introduced in 2025. Under particular network-restriction conditions, only government-recognized essential services would remain available. The article also examined the restrictions and substitution dynamics affecting Telegram, WhatsApp, Max, and other messaging platforms in Russia. Source: Mediazona.
5. Human Rights Watch: Russia Confirmed Blocking 469 VPN Services
Keywords: 469 VPN services, protocol blocking, penalties for VPN promotion.
Human Rights Watch wrote on March 12, 2026, that Russia's telecommunications regulator, Roskomnadzor, had confirmed in February that it was blocking 469 VPN services used to circumvent internet censorship. The article also said Russian authorities had begun blocking three of the most commonly used VPN protocols in December 2025 and had imposed penalties for promoting VPNs since 2025. Source: Human Rights Watch.
The same Human Rights Watch article said that, since September 2025, Russian users who “deliberately” searched for material designated as “extremist” could face fines even if they accessed it through a VPN. The distinction matters: the cited measure is not simply a fine for using a VPN. Instead, VPN access has become part of a broader information-control and enforcement system. Source: Human Rights Watch.
6. Apple: Russia Led Government-Requested App Removals in 2025
Keywords: government takedown demands, 1,213 Russian apps, country-specific storefront removals.
Apple's 2025 App Store Transparency Report says the company removed 2,045 apps in response to government takedown demands during the year. The totals included 1,213 apps in Russia, 196 in mainland China, 335 in Vietnam, 108 in South Korea, and 54 in India. Apple explains that an app affected by such a request is removed only from the storefront of the requesting country or region and remains available elsewhere. Source: Apple's 2025 App Store Transparency Report.
On May 25, 2026, independent Russian news outlet Meduza reported from Apple's transparency data that Russia requested the removal of 1,213 apps in 2025, up from 171 in 2024, 12 in 2023, and 7 in 2022. Meduza said Russia was far ahead of other countries and regions in the number of government-requested removals. Sources: Meduza and Apple's 2025 App Store Transparency Report.
7. Access Now: At Least 313 Internet Shutdowns Worldwide in 2025
Keywords: 313 shutdowns, 52 countries, platform blocking.
Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition published their annual report on 2025 internet shutdowns on March 31, 2026. It recorded at least 313 shutdowns across 52 countries—the highest total since tracking began in 2016. Access Now's definition includes complete disconnections, deliberate slowdowns, platform blocks, and other forms of disruption. Sources: Access Now's #KeepItOn campaign and the annual report PDF.
Access Now also emphasizes that shutdowns affect work, education, health care, banking, news reporting, freedom of expression, and the documentation of human rights abuses. For VPN users and people seeking access to a restricted internet, the report illustrates that internet control is no longer limited to an inaccessible website. It can also take the form of platform blocks, regional outages, throttling, app-store restrictions, and suppression of alternative connection methods. Source: Access Now's #KeepItOn campaign.
8. InterSecLab and WIRED: Commercial “Firewall” Technology Is Spreading Across Borders
Keywords: commercial censorship systems, deep packet inspection, traffic control.
In September 2025, InterSecLab published The Internet Coup, a technical report based on its analysis of more than 100,000 leaked Geedge Networks documents. The researchers said Geedge had supplied Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Myanmar, and other countries with censorship and surveillance systems resembling China's firewall. According to the report, the systems included deep packet inspection, real-time monitoring of mobile subscribers, granular traffic controls, and censorship rules tailored by region. Source: InterSecLab.
WIRED reported on September 8, 2025, that researchers found the Geedge system could monitor online information, block websites and VPN tools, and surveil particular individuals. The report said the leaked files showed that the system could use deep packet inspection and machine learning to extract metadata from encrypted traffic and assess whether it might originate from VPNs or other censorship-circumvention tools. Source: WIRED.
Conclusion
Three themes emerge from these public reports. First, the availability and stability of VPNs in mainland China continued to attract attention, with the LetsVPN episode becoming a prominent case. Second, Russia was combining controls on Telegram and VPNs with app-store takedowns and website-access restrictions. Third, reporting by Access Now, InterSecLab, GPPi, and others suggests that internet censorship is evolving from isolated site blocking into a broader chain involving platforms, app stores, telecommunications carriers, traffic identification, and commercial censorship systems. Sources: ABC News, GPPi, OSW, Access Now, and InterSecLab.