After Pornhub left France, this VPN saw a 1,000% surge in signups in 30 minutes
Proton VPN says it saw a 1,000% increase in signups right after Pornhub exited France this week due to a new age-verification law.


A popular VPN service reported a 1,000% increase in registrations just 30 minutes after Pornhub blocked access in France this week. The adult site reportedly exited its second-biggest market on June 4 because of a new French age-verification law, per Mashable's Anna Iovine.
"5PM - PornHub blocks France from accessing its website," Proton VPN tweeted Wednesday. "5.30PM - @ProtonVPN registrations increase by 1,000%[.] For context, this is more than when TikTok blocked Americans."
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Mashable has reached out to Proton VPN for comment.
A VPN, or virtual private network, is a service that routes your internet traffic through an encrypted tunnel to a remote server before sending it out onto the web. The main purpose of a VPN is to reclaim some online privacy from one's ISP and other prying eyes. But they're also commonly used to spoof one's location: A VPN can make it appear as though its user is visiting websites from a country they're not physically in.
The Swiss-based Proton VPN was launched in 2017 and currently maintains a massive network of more than 13,000 servers in 117 countries worldwide. To date, it's the only VPN service we've tested that's won a Mashable Choice Award. Read our full review.