How NordVPN is protecting activism, internet freedom, and human rights
3 min read
We have always believed that the internet should be safe from surveillance and censorship. The past six months have been quite busy for NordVPN as we’ve worked to make that a reality. From supporting internet freedom projects to fighting censorship, here’s a recap of what we’ve been doing since January.
Fighting internet censorship
In extreme cases of censorship or online privacy violations, NordVPN offers a free temporary service to journalists and activists – Emergency VPN. It provides access to websites or services that may be restricted and helps hide citizens’ identities online. If you are a journalist or activist facing severe oppression or media blackouts, request Emergency VPN access here. Rest assured that you will be receiving some of the most highly rated VPN protection available.
Since January 1, 2019, NordVPN has received over 430 Emergency VPN requests. Over 350 of those were from people in Venezuela. The ongoing political crisis there has led to heavy internet restrictions, especially on social media.
Internet freedom and human rights
Back in April, NordVPN contributed to the Internet Freedom Festival (IFF). IFF is one of the largest, most diverse, and most inclusive conferences in the internet freedom community. It brings together activist groups, media, NGOs, and others working toward a free and open internet. This year, we participated as one of the Diversity & Inclusion Fund Donors.
We also partnered up with the Cyber Support Network. This organization helps individuals and small businesses in the U.S. that have been victims of cyber crimes. CSN’s current project, Fraudsupport.org, guides them on how to protect themselves and what to do after suffering an attack. Our aim is to help and educate the public about online safety.
We also partnered with Women’s March Global to strive for equal rights for women around the world. This year, NordVPN donated VPN accounts to the organization in an effort to help them improve their online safety.
Supporting social causes
In addition to advocating for online freedom, we also support many social causes. NordVPN gave away 15 VPN accounts to the Livestream for a Cure fundraiser back in May. All the proceeds went to the Cancer Research Institute. This is a non-profit organization funding cancer and immunotherapy research.
In 2019 NordVPN also donated VPN accounts to the Your Life Counts organization. This non-profit works with suicide prevention. It supports survivors and people facing suicide loss. It also provides counseling and support to people considering or affected by suicide.
NordVPN also promotes computer literacy. In May, NordVPN donated free VPN accounts to MetroHacks — the biggest high school hackathon in New England. The organization promotes computer science education with coding, hacking, and collaboration workshops.
What’s up next
These projects are only the beginning. We have partnered with Access Now, a non-profit dedicated to a free and open internet. We will be joining their conference, RightsCon, in Tunis on June 11-14 as an event sponsor. The summit brings together businesses, governments, human rights defenders, and tech experts to learn and share insights about technology’s impact on society.
In July, NordVPN will support another human and digital rights conference — OrgCon. It’s organized by the Open Rights Group, which protects UK citizens’ rights online. The event will focus on democracy, privacy, and free expression online. We are also very excited to hear NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s insights about mass government surveillance across the globe.
Our work doesn’t end there — NordVPN has many more projects lined up to promote online freedom and security.