- Egypt has reportedly blocked Discord since the weekend
- Proton VPN has confirmed a usage spike as a result of the ban
- Discord is also banned in Jordan, Turkey, and Russia
Discord users in Egypt have been left scrambling for alternatives after the popular communication platform suddenly stopped working across major internet service providers over the weekend.
Reports of the outage began flooding social media on Saturday, with users complaining of connection failures and “stuck on loading” screens, hallmarks of a potential government-level block rather than a simple service outage.
As it has become the standard response to digital censorship in the region, users have immediately sought out the best VPN services to bypass the restrictions. Confirmation of this exodus came quickly from Proton VPN, a popular choice thanks to its secure free VPN app.
Proton VPN signups from Egypt 🇪🇬 shot up sharply (+103%) on Saturday amid reports of Discord being blocked by WE (Telecom Egypt) and Vodafone.This follows recent trends of Egypt restricting some social and VoIP platforms in an attempt to suppress emerging youth-led activism. pic.twitter.com/W8q3E1fiLMJanuary 11, 2026
David Peterson, General Manager at Proton VPN, shared data on X, revealing a dramatic spike in VPN usage originating from Egypt. The data indicates that as soon as Discord’s servers became unreachable on Saturday, Egyptian netizens began downloading the VPN en masse to tunnel through the blockage.
“Free ProtonVPN sign-ups from Egypt continue to accelerate as the blocking of Discord in the country appears to be expanding, impacting more users,” wrote Peterson in an update on Monday as new sign-ups reach over 250% increase above normal levels.
This incident marks yet another flashpoint in the ongoing tug-of-war between internet freedom and state control in the MENA region. For many, a VPN is no longer just a privacy tool; it is an essential utility for maintaining basic communication.
Why is Discord being blocked in Egypt?
While there has been no official statement from Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), the pattern is familiar. Egypt has a history of restricting VoIP (Voice over IP) services to protect the revenues of state-owned telecom providers and control encrypted communications.
Users on Reddit have pointed fingers at WE (Telecom Egypt), the state-owned ISP, noting that the service works intermittently on other mobile networks but is completely dead on home fiber connections.
This isn’t the first time Discord has been in the crosshairs, either. The app has reportedly faced temporary throttling and blocks in Egypt before, often forcing gamers and remote workers to rely on VPNs for weeks at a time.
This move follows a worrying trend of Discord bans across the region. In late 2025, Jordan blocked Discord following similar bans in Turkey and Russia, leaving millions of users disconnected from their communities.
As reported by Newsweek, young people in Marcocco and Nepal have been using Discord as a platform to organize a wave of protests across the country.
How a VPN restores access
For those unfamiliar with the technology, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) works by creating an encrypted tunnel between your device and a server in another country.
Using a VPN not only boosts users’ online privacy and security, but it also tricks their internet service providers (ISPs) into thinking they are browsing from a completely different country.
This allows you to bypass local blocks. All you need to do is choose a VPN server located outside Egypt, or any other country where Discord is currently blocked.
As the digital walls close in, the data shared by Peterson highlights a resilient user base that refuses to be disconnected. Whether this block is a temporary glitch or a permanent policy remains to be seen, but for now, the VPN tunnel is the only way out.
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