VPN interest surges in the U.S. as TikTok and WeChat users panic about access to Chinese apps
LONDON — Interest in virtual private network (VPN) software surged in the U.S. over the weekend as citizens realized President Donald Trump could soon block their access to Chinese-made apps like TikTok and WeChat over national security concerns.
VPNs allow users to conceal their location online and pretend to be somewhere they’re not. Chinese citizens use the software to access apps like Facebook and Google, which are blocked by the Chinese Communist Party. U.S. citizens could theoretically use a VPN to try to bypass a government block on TikTok or WeChat.
Daniel Markuson, digital privacy expert at NordVPN, told CNBC that NordVPN has seen more interest than normal from U.S. citizens since the announcement of the ban on TikTok and WeChat on Aug. 6.
“Expecting a (TikTok) ban to go into effect on Sunday, people rushed looking for VPN more actively: this weekend alone inquiries from the U.S. surged by 34%,” Markuson said in an email. NordVPN declined to give exact figures but said it has 14 million users globally.
Rival firm ExpressVPN has also seen an uptick in interest. Harold Li, vice president of ExpressVPN, told CNBC: “We saw a 20% increase in traffic to our website from the U.S. following Trump’s initial announcement of a potential TikTok and WeChat ban in early August.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/21/vpn-interest-surges-in-us-as-tiktok-wechat-users-panic-.html
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