ABCDEFG
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CountryStatusContextSources
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EgyptCurrently restrictedEgypt’s President signed the Anti-Cyber and Information Technology Crimes legislation into law on August 18, 2018.

The anti-cybercrime law gave the Egyptian government the power to block any websites it deemed to be a threat to national security and national economy.

People who attempt to access the blocked websites, for example by using VPNs, could also be sentenced to 1 year in jail or a fine of up to EGP100,000.		https://rsf.org/en/egypt-s-new-cybercrime-law-legalizes-internet-censorshiphttps://thenextweb.com/news/egypts-new-anti-cybercrime-law-could-mean-vpn-users-face-jail-timehttps://masaar.net/en/blocked-websites-in-egypt/
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UgandaRestricted in the pastThe government ordered ISPs to start blocking VPNs after people started massively using the technology to evade the social media (OTT) tax which was put into place on July 1st, 2018.

The OTT tax was replaced by a general internet tax on July 1, 2021.

A spokesperson of the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has been cited as saying: “Efforts have been made” to demand that telecom operators block VPN use in Uganda. But while some were indeed blocked for the most part, “It had,” he said, “not been successful.”		https://torrentfreak.com/uganda-to-block-vpns-after-people-begin-avoiding-new-social-media-tax-180702/https://restofworld.org/2021/vpns-ruined-ugandas-ill-advised-social-media-tax-now-regulators-want-to-tax-all-internet-users/https://www.mtn.co.ug/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/OTTTaxFAQ.pdf
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TanzaniaCurrently restrictedOn July 17, 2020, a new set of Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations were passed.

As per one of the regulations, “a person shall not render, possess or distribute technology, program, application or any other related thing that allows or helps users to have access to prohibited content", meaning the use of VPN technology to access restricted content was made illegal.

The regulations include ten different categories of prohibited content. The definitions received a lot of criticism for being vague and overly broad, creating space for censorship.		https://www.accessnow.org/internet-censorship-in-tanzania/https://www.article19.org/resources/tanzania-online-content-regulations-problematic-covid-19-pandemic/https://cipesa.org/?wpfb_dl=469
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ChinaCurrently restrictedIn January of 2017, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced a more than a year-long campaign to overhaul internet access services. The MIIT issued a notice on January 22nd making it unlawful to provide circumvention tools without the ministry’s pre-approval.

In July of 2017, Apple removed 674 VPNs from its App Store in China, citing compliance with government regulations.

In August of 2017, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) ordered five websites, including shopping giant Alibaba, to remove vendors that offered access to VPNs.		https://www-bbc-com.translate.goog/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-38714639?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=enhttps://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/china-and-tibethttps://techcrunch.com/2017/07/29/apple-removes-vpn-apps-from-the-app-store-in-china/https://www-thepaper-cn.translate.goog/newsDetail_forward_8476728?hotComm=true&module=inline&pgtype=article&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en
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IndiaCurrently restrictedOn April 28, 2022, India's cyber agency Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issued a directive saying that data centers, VPN, VPS and Cloud service providers operating in India are required to store customer logs for 5 years.

In June of 2022, the Indian government barred its employees from using third-party VPN and anonymization services.		https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/explainer-new-vpn-rules-why-vpn-companies-are-upset-and-what-they-mean-for-you/articleshow/92270798.cmshttps://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/govt-bans-vpn-cloud-services-for-employees/92269107
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IranCurrently restrictedIn 2013, the government blocked "illegal" VPN access and said "only legal and registered VPNs can from now on be used", although no law was passed.

In 2017, MTN Irancell announced that consumers using VPNs will not receive a 50% discount when visiting domestic websites, discouraging VPN use.

In 2020, it was announced that the CDICC had drafted a regulation for establishing a "legal VPN" scheme. People would have to apply to purchase VPNs and secure approval from the government based on their need, with factors potentially including one's profession.

In 2022, several key provisions to the “Regulatory System for Cyberspace Services Bill” were made. If passed into law, control over key communication infrastructure will be delegated to armed forces and security agencies. One of the bill's chapters, in practice, would lead to the introduction of a blanket ban against all international services, including encrypted communication tools. Access to services provided by companies that do not comply with the government's requirements would be throttled and could be banned from operating in Iran.		https://www.reuters.com/article/idCNL6N0C24M620130310?edition-redirect=cahttps://smallmedia.org.uk/media/projects/files/Filterwatch2017InReview.pdfhttps://freedomhouse.org/country/iran/freedom-net/2021https://www.article19.org/resources/iran-human-rights-groups-sound-alarm-against-draconian-internet-bill/
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IraqCurrently restrictedDuring the war with IS, the government disabled the internet in certain regions, blocked social media websites, and instituted restrictions on VPNs as part of their defense strategy:

"Due to the current national security concerns and the exceptional developing situation in our beloved country, the national security advisory board has decreed the following: Firstly, stopping all Internet services completely and absolutely for the districts of Nineveh, Al-Anbar, Saladin, Kirkuk, Diyala. Secondly, stopping all access to Virtual Private Networks (VPN) in all of Iraq starting at 4:00PM and until 7:00AM daily. Thirdly, stopping all access to the following Internet applications in all of Iraq: Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Viber and Skype."

While it is still technically illegal to use circumvention tools, the ban is not strongly enforced.		https://freedomhouse.org/country/iraq/freedom-net/2021#footnote7_i4xdon9https://www.theregister.com/2014/06/17/iraq_shutdown_details/
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MyanmarCurrently restrictedOn Jan 13, 2022, Myanmar's military junta issued a draft bill that would ban the use of VPNs and punish those who use them with fines and/or a jail sentence.

Even though the law hasn't officially been passed yet, there are reports of junta officials already using it to check people's phones for VPN software.		https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/24/myanmar_military_junta_bans_vpns_crypto/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/bill-01262022183617.html
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OmanCurrently restrictedIn August, 2010, Oman’s Telecom Regulation Authority (TRA) made a call for Public Consultation/Opinion on a regulation to be made a law that would prohibit the use of VPNs.

The proposed law imposed a fine of 500 Omani Rial on individuals and 1,000 Omani Rial on companies without the proper permit.

Note: could not find any sources confirming the law had been passed.		https://riyadh.om/2010/private-use-of-vpn-to-be-prohibited-in-oman/https://thenextweb.com/news/oman-to-ban-vpns-for-individualshttps://advox.globalvoices.org/2010/09/03/oman-vpn-ban-soon/
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PakistanCurrently restrictedOn March 15, 2010, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) published Monitoring and Reconciliation of Telephony Traffic Regulations (MRITT).

In August of 2011, the PTA sent a legal notice to all ISPs, ordering them to inform authorities if any of their customers are using VPNs. As per Freedom House, "the mandate was never properly implemented".

In May of 2014, the PTA issued a notice requiring VPN users to "apply to PTA for regisration of their VPN connections through their respective service providers". The same type of notices were again issued in June of 2020 and September of 2022. As per Digital Rights Foundation, the PTA claims to use the 2010 MRITT as the base for these notices.		https://www.pta.gov.pk/media/monitoring_telephony_traffic_reg_070510.pdfhttps://freedomhouse.org/country/pakistan/freedom-net/2021https://propakistani.pk/2022/09/11/pta-issues-new-deadline-for-internet-users-to-register-vpns/
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TurkeyCurrently restrictedOn November 4th, 2016, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority ordered ISPs to block Tor and several VPN providers.

Earlier in the day, the government had already blocked various social media and online communication tools.

The independent monitoring organization TurkeyBlocks had also reported throttling and other forms of censorship, linking the disruptions and blocks to the arrests of pro-Kurdish party leaders.		https://www.vice.com/en/article/9a3gqp/turkey-doubles-down-on-censorship-with-block-on-vpns-torhttps://www.dailydot.com/debug/turkey-block-tor-vpns-activists/
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TurkmenistanCurrently restrictedA new law, “On legal regulation of the Internet development and Internet services in Turkmenistan”, adopted in December 2014, put in place restrictive regulations, including disproportionate limitations on online content for overly broadly defined activities.

Note: many sources list 2015 as the year of the ban, although OSCE listed December, 2014.

While the use of anonimyzing technology doesn't seem to have been addressed directly, sources state that as per the law, "attempts to use proxy servers and VPN are detected and blocked; their users are subjected to administrative penalties and summoned for “preventive conversations” to the Ministry of National Security, where they face intimidation."

There are reports of VPN restrictions having intensified in 2019, 2021 and 2022.		https://www.osce.org/fom/133701https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/TKM/INT_CCPR_CSS_TKM_26541_E.pdfhttps://cabar.asia/en/turkmenistan-internet-as-a-synonym-of-no-internet
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The U.A.E.Currently restrictedThe president of the UAE issued a decree on combating cybercrimes on November 12, 2012, and an amendment for it in 2016.

While the 2016 amendment was widely reported as the beginning of VPN restrictions in the UAE, Kellie Blyth, a UAE-based lawyer who specialises in telecommunications, media and commercial laws, clarified the situation to Gulf News:

“The legal position regarding the use of VPNs in the UAE has not changed. It was and remains an offence to use VPN to commit a crime, or to try to prevent its discovery <...> Previously, the potential fines ranged from Dh150,000 to Dh500,000. Now, they have been increased to any amount from Dh500,000 to Dh2 million. This is in addition to a potential custodial sentence, which existed previously".

The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) supported this view in a more detailed statement which said the law wasn't new in its essence, and that the only changes were related to tightening the penalty or punishment for any violation.		https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/28/uae-cybercrimes-decree-attacks-free-speechhttps://gulfnews.com/uae/crime/using-vpns-what-uae-residents-need-to-know-1.1872123https://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/dh500-000-fine-if-you-use-fraud-ip-in-uae-2016-07-22-1.636441
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BelarusCurrently restrictedOn February 19th, 2015, the Communications Ministry published a decree that mandates how access to certain online resources should be limited by Internet providers at the request of the state. Some of the limitations deal directly with anonymizing services:

"The state inspection, upon discovering Internet resources, anonymizing services (proxy-servers, anonymous networks like Tor and others), that allow Internet users to access online resources whose identifiers are included on the limited access list, will add the identifiers of these Internet resources and anonymizing services to the list as well."		https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-net/2021/https://advox.globalvoices.org/2015/02/25/belarus-bans-tor-and-other-anonymizers/https://pravo.by/document/?guid=12551&p0=T21503059&p1=1
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RussiaCurrently restrictedOn November 1st, 2017, a law prohibiting technology that provides anonymous access to banned websites came into force. The law, approved by the Duma, banned the use of VPNs and other technologies, known as anonymizers, that allow people to surf the web anonymously.

Not much had been done to enforce the law until March 28, 2019, when Russia's online regulator, Roskomnadzor, said it had written to 10 popular VPN services to demand they connect their systems to the watchdog's blacklist of banned websites, so their users are no longer able to view the forbidden content.

They were given 30 days in which to do so, failing which, "Roskomnadzor may decide to restrict access to the VPN service." Only one provider - Kaspersky Lab - complied.

More VPN providers were blocked in 2021.		https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-internet/putin-bans-vpns-to-stop-russians-accessing-prohibited-websites-idUSKBN1AF0QIhttps://www.zdnet.com/article/vpn-providers-pull-russian-servers-as-putins-ban-threatens-to-bite/https://tech.co/news/russia-blocks-six-vpns-legal
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North KoreaCurrently restrictedNorth Korea bans VPN usage, which is a criminal offense for its citizens. However, the government is lenient on VPN usage by tourists making short visits. https://www.privacyjournal.net/are-vpns-legal-in-north-korea/