VPN Activism: Defending Freedom and Truth by Circumventing Internet Censorship

Abstract

Internet censorship is an increasingly popular method for repressive governments to control their populations. This study examines the experience of ‘VPN activists,’ people who create and distribute VPNs (virtual private networks) to enable others to circumvent Internet censorship. VPN activism is important because it changes the dynamics around Internet censorship, generating effects that decrease the extent to which a regime’s censorship goals may be achieved. VPN activists' innovative use of technology to empower others from afar is a new type of activism that has not yet been deeply studied by social movement scholars. Using a qualitative, inductive approach based primarily on interviews with VPN activists, this study sheds light on this phenomenon by examining how VPN activists interpret their experience of helping people overcome Internet censorship. The findings reveal that VPN activists consider their work to be a way of bringing freedom and truth to people under repression, based on a deep-seated belief that full Internet access is a fundamental right. Participants detailed numerous challenges inherent in the work, and described how they were able to mitigate the challenges. Notably, they also expressed a sense of ‘Internet realism,’ acknowledging the darker sides of the Internet but still believing that their work would result in a net-positive impact.