According to Techopedia, Turkmenistan has once again ranked first in the list of countries whose users search for VPNs the most. Experts evaluated the popularity of the VPN query on Google using a 100-point scale. Turkmenistan scored 100 out of 100 in both 2022 and 2023. Following Turkmenistan in the top ten rankings are Ethiopia (99 points), Iran (77), Myanmar (65), China (54), Syria (52), Afghanistan (41), Saint Helena (40), Senegal (35), and Uganda (33).
Turkmenistan is the only country in the top ten where VPN usage is prohibited by law. In other countries, the use of these programs is either fully legal or partially restricted. According to Technopedia, besides Turkmenistan, VPNs are banned in four other countries: Oman, North Korea, Belarus, and Iraq.
The Turkmenistan Code of Administrative Offenses includes a chapter titled "Administrative Offenses Violating the Rules of Use, Distribution, and Protection of Information," which includes articles related to VPN usage. The formulations of these articles are vague, allowing security services to interpret them as they see fit. Users of VPNs in Turkmenistan are often summoned for conversations, fined, and even imprisoned for up to 15 days.
The ranking compilers also categorize countries based on whether VPNs are permanently required or if demand for the service has increased due to a specific event. Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and China fall into the former category, while countries like Senegal, where the opposition leader was arrested in 2023, belong to the latter.
It is worth noting that the internet blockade situation in Turkmenistan is more complex than it seems. The Cybersecurity Department, separated from the Ministry of National Security, blocks entire IP ranges, making a large part of the internet inaccessible. However, this is not done to ensure regime security but rather for corrupt financial gain.
Employees of the department themselves trade VPNs based on whitelisted IPs, which are essentially the only VPNs that work in Turkmenistan. Services offered by private individuals are cheaper but quickly cease to function as the department hunts down competitors and blocks their IPs. Free popular VPNs found through Google do not work in Turkmenistan's conditions.
Those who purchase VPNs from the Cybersecurity Department can freely access sites that authorities deem as threats to national security. Meanwhile, regular users of "Turkmentelecom" cannot access most harmless websites. Thus, the internet in Turkmenistan has become a privilege for the wealthy.
