VPN debate has grown in Türkiye, ProtonVPN downloads doubled in 1 day

News that license requirements will be imposed on VPN services in Türkiye were at the top of the technology and digital rights agenda at the weekend. Immediately after these allegations, ProtonVPN’s official account published a statement directly referring to Türkiye. The company pointed to reports that only “authorized” VPNs would be allowed and that those services would be expected to share usage data with authorities, saying its own line was clearly against this. While the Proton front emphasized that it would not share user data, it moved the discussion from a technical product issue to a direct focus on privacy.

The critical point here is that there is currently no publicly available and officially published license text. The sources we have accessed do not contain a regulation published in the Official Gazette or a binding framework announced by BTK, and the information circulated consists mostly of news and comments reflected in the press. Therefore, it would be premature to say “license requirements have been introduced for VPNs”, but we can easily say “such a preparation claim has caused serious repercussions”. However, on the digital side, perception often moves faster than official text, and user behavior quickly reflects this.

Spoken on the download side “Double increase in 24 hours” Currently, information circulates mostly through technology accounts and social media posts. We have not come across any data that independently confirms this figure on ProtonVPN’s official site or official X post. Therefore, when writing the news, it seems more accurate to read this section as a circulating claim, rather than as finalized company data. Frankly, the visibility created by ProtonVPN’s announcement and the fact that Türkiye has experienced similar demand jumps before when it comes to internet restrictions do not make such an increase unreasonable. Past reporting from Proton’s own censorship observatory and TechRadar already reveals that we see sharp increases in ProtonVPN registrations and usage during periods of access restrictions in Türkiye.

Data policy, not speed, is at the center of the debate

What really makes ProtonVPN’s launch important is not speed, number of servers, or price. In its official no-logs policy, the company clearly states that it does not keep online activity records and metadata that can identify the user, and in its transparency report published for legal applications, it states that it cannot identify users based on a specific server and time stamp. In addition, Proton also announced that its no-logs policy will be independently audited in 2025. In fact, the latest debate in Türkiye is getting harsher at this point, because if the idea of ​​an “authorized VPN” technically brings with it not only access permission but also the expectation of storing and sharing data, the approach of privacy-oriented services and the public authority will directly collide.

From the user’s perspective, the picture looks quite clear. In such periods, people do not ask the question “which VPN is faster”, they are looking for an answer to the question “which service is really not efficient?” We have seen a similar reflex during social media restrictions and VPN blocks in Türkiye before, and some foreign publications even wrote that many VPN services in Türkiye face restrictions from time to time. Long story short, even if the license claim has not yet turned into an official text, the debate has already stirred up the market, and ProtonVPN has filled this gap with a clear privacy statement. In the coming days, all eyes will no longer be on rumors, but on the concrete regulatory text that will come from Ankara.