Spanish football league wants to put VPN providers on EU blacklist

The Spanish football league LaLiga has sent a lengthy letter to the European Commission demanding action against well-known VPN service providers such as NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark and Proton VPN. The league has stressed that its aim is not to ban VPN technology itself, but to combat the misuse of these tools to circumvent geo-restrictions and court blockades.

The main reason for the request is promotional guides and complaints about intermediary marketing links. Many content creators and websites, by publishing instructions and commission links, explain to users how to connect to foreign servers to watch matches or bypass the blocks of pirate platforms. According to the Spanish league, this means that providers lose their status as neutral technical intermediaries, as such advertising directly harms their exclusive rights to broadcast matches.

The history of the Spanish league's actions suggests considerable recklessness, as legal action has previously caused disruptions to the wider internet. In addition, some companies, such as NordVPN, have successfully argued in court that permanently blocking changing internet addresses is technically unfeasible. If the European Union were to give in to such pressure, it could negatively impact the privacy and security of ordinary internet users.