Proton VPN team up with Deutsche Welle to fight back against online censorship

Users of Proton VPN, one of the best VPN services around, now have more ways to fight back against online censorship – without the need to pay for it. 

The Swiss-based Proton VPN teamed up with German media outlet Deutsche Welle to offer people worldwide direct access to trustworthy and independent news content.

Specifically, the Virtual Private Network provider has rolled out a series of dedicated servers optimized to provide high-speed access to DW websites and video content, whenever that's censored. Even better, these are available for both free and paid subscribers across all desktop and mobile apps.

This partnership, a first of its kind, is just the latest effort in a long list of Proton VPN's continuous commitment to promoting a free and secure internet for all. 

Unblocking “access to the truth” worldwide

“Free access to information is under attack on a scale that we haven’t seen before”, said Andy Yen, Founder and CEO at Proton. He continued: “DW has a long history of defending free speech, as does Proton VPN, and we're looking forward to working together to unblock access to the truth everywhere in the world”. 

A Proton spokesperson explained to TechRadar that these dedicated servers give consumers of DW content, in countries subject to censorship, the speed and security of Proton's paid-for VPN servers – whilst remaining totally free. Nations where the media outlet is currently banned include Turkey and Russia.

To access and use the servers, users first need to download the Proton app for desktop or mobile. Typing “news” into the server search bar, a list of servers marked with a DW logo will appear – no matter whether you're using its paid or free VPN service. Users can choose from servers based in either the US, Netherlands or Japan. 

This partnership shows the commitment of both companies in defending freedom of speech worldwide; giving people access to the information they need without censorship or surveillance.

There are three simple steps to access and use the servers:

1. Download the Proton app for desktop or mobile.
2. Find a server by typing “news” into the search bar.
3. Connect to one of the servers with a DW logo.

No matter whether you're using Proton's paid or free VPN service, users can choose from dedicated DW servers based in the US, Netherlands, and Japan.

This partnership shows the commitment of both companies to defending the right to freedom of speech, worldwide; giving people access to the information they need without censorship or surveillance.  

“We are very happy to be partnering with a company that is just as dedicated as we at DW are to protecting the online privacy of activists, journalists and others while providing them with free, unrestricted access to the open Internet”, says Guido Baumhauer, Managing Director of Distribution, Marketing and Technology at DW.

He also praised the way Proton VPN handles user data, according to very high-security standards, as a further reason to team up with the Swiss-based provider.

Proton has a long history in promoting internet freedom. This includes a new obfuscated (stealth) VPN protocol to evade censorship, and alternative routing through its Secure Core technology, alongside a fully-fledged privacy ecosystem; comprising a secure and encrypted email service, storage, and calendar. 

When asked about future initiatives, a Proton spokesperson told TechRadar: “We can't say whether in the future this will extend to other media organizations, but what we can say is that we are totally committed to ensuring as many people around the world as possible can freely access the internet and bypass censorship and surveillance”. 

We hope more VPN providers will follow suit in supporting freedom of speech, and protecting both truth-seekers and journalists around the globe.