Indonesian Government Threatens to Shut Down Free VPN Services

• The country wishes to control people’s access to online gambling platforms.
• Free VPN providers are under the government’s focus right now.
• This isn’t the first time Indonesia opposes the use of VPNs.

Since the fall of an authoritarian regime in 1998, Indonesia’s turn to democracy has brought new freedoms to its citizens. However, the country’s authorities still use defamation and blasphemy laws to control what can be seen and done on the Internet. In recent months, the authorities have focused on online gambling, which they see as a hazardous and harmful activity that should be strictly regulated.

As reported by JakartaGlobe, thousands of gambling sites, applications, and promotional content have been taken down recently. However, as the country’s Communication and Informatics Minister Budi Arie Setiadi noted, Internet users are now massively turning to VPN services to access blocked websites.

Setiadi focused on free VPN services, which are widely used and quite popular worldwide as they offer the easiest way to bypass Web restrictions. They get the job done despite being inferior to premium VPN services, which are more private, better equipped to bypass firewalls, and better performing.

Due to their popularity and widespread use, Indonesia plans to shut down free VPN services to “restrict access to the network used by ordinary people to play online gambling.” The country’s government also noted that it needs “support from players in the telecommunication industry to eradicate online gambling at its roots.”

We still don’t know how Indonesia plans to block free VPN services precisely or whether premium VPNs will suffer the same fate. There have been talks about regulating VPNs through special permits in the past, but those plans have never been executed.

In the meantime, if you plan on using a VPN, we recommend avoiding free VPNs. Aside from bringing limited features, not enough servers, and slow speeds, they can also leak your data and expose you to your Internet provider. Our guide to the best VPNs for Indonesia will help you find a provider worth your time and money.