Censorship Monitor · VPNs & privacy toolsLast test
Where is Surfshark blocked?
VPN provider’s website · surfshark.com
China, Iran and Russia, which all restrict VPNs, were blocking Surfshark’s website in 2026, as was Belarus’s state-owned Beltelecom. Surfshark itself decided in 2022 to shut its servers in India over a data law.
Every day we open Surfshark from inside 24 countries, mostly over home broadband, and record
where it’s blocked, since when and how.
7 of 24tested countries with a confirmed block of Surfshark
Blocked in China, Egypt, Iran, the UAE and Russia, and on some networks in Saudi Arabia and Belarus. 24 of 24 results confirmed in the last 48 hours.
Blocked means the networks we test there failed to open surfshark.com, twice, while it opened elsewhere.
“Turned away by the site” means Surfshark itself refused visitors from that country.
* First observed on this date: the block may be older. Older results are excluded from current totals.
Background
Where Surfshark is restricted, and why
Independent tests in September and October 2026 found surfshark.com blocked on most Russian networks, as ten VPN services reported tighter restrictions in the week after the State Duma elections. Russia has banned VPN services that open blocked sites since 1 November 2017, and since March 2024 it has also banned promoting ways around blocks, after which websites offering VPN services faced blocking.
In mainland China, where setting up a VPN service needs government approval, independent tests found surfshark.com blocked in October 2026. Iran’s ICT ministry warned in October 2022 that selling or using illegal VPNs could bring fines or prison, and testers there got a block page instead of Surfshark’s site in September and October 2026. Tests in Belarus, which has legally banned VPNs since 2015, found it blocked on the network of state-owned Beltelecom over the same weeks.
Surfshark’s departure from India was its own decision, not a government block. When CERT-In’s April 2022 rules required VPN providers to keep customer data for five years, Surfshark said they went against “the core ethos of the company” and announced in June 2022 that it would shut its physical servers there. Surfshark kept serving Indian customers, TechCrunch reported in January 2025, but no longer marketed its apps in India.
Pressure has also come from courts in democracies. In May 2025 the Paris Judicial Court, at the request of the broadcaster Canal+, ordered Surfshark and other VPN providers to block about 200 pirate sports-streaming domains for users in France, within three days and until the end of the 2024/2025 season, under France’s sports code.
Key dates
A Paris court orders Surfshark and other VPN providers to block about 200 pirate sports-streaming domains for users in France.
TechCrunch reports that India has had more than half a dozen VPN apps pulled from app stores; Surfshark still serves Indian users.
Russia’s ban on promoting ways around its blocks takes effect, and websites offering VPN services start facing blocks.
Iran’s ICT ministry warns that selling or using illegal VPNs can be punished with fines or prison.
Surfshark says it will shut its servers in India rather than keep the customer data CERT-In’s new rules require.
Russia’s ban on VPN services that give access to blocked websites takes effect.
Get past a block
Surfshark blocked where you are?
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History
Changes for Surfshark
No confirmed changes since monitoring began on 29 Sep 2026. When a block appears or lifts, and a re-check on several machines agrees, it shows up here.
Method
How we test
Test machines on the two biggest home-internet providers in most countries open the homepage every day.
A failure counts only when it happens twice on the same network, while the site opens from other countries.
A change is published only after re-checks a few hours later and again the next day, on several machines per provider, confirm it. It’s dated from the first sighting.
Test machines caught getting around blocks, through a VPN or a filter-dodging tool, are set aside.
We test websites, mostly over home broadband. Apps, calls and mobile networks can behave differently.
Its website was in 2026: independent tests in September and October found surfshark.com blocked on most Russian networks. Russia has banned VPN services that open blocked sites since November 2017, and since March 2024 it has also banned promoting ways around its blocks.
Why Did Surfshark Shut Its Servers in India?
Because of CERT-In’s April 2022 rules, which require VPN providers to keep customer data for five years. Surfshark said the rules went against the core ethos of the company and announced in June 2022 that it would close its physical servers in India. It was the company’s choice, not a block.
Why Was Surfshark Ordered to Block Websites in France?
A French court granted the broadcaster Canal+’s request under the country’s sports code. In May 2025 the Paris Judicial Court ordered Surfshark and other VPN providers to block about 200 pirate sports-streaming domains for users in France, within three days and until the end of the 2024/2025 season.
