Apple appears to be blocking the download of VPN apps from the App Store, a notably different choice than X and Elon Musk recently made.

Musk made headlines when he opted to pull X out of Brazil in response to what he called “secret censorship.” Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had ordered X to remove certain content and secretly provide information about certain users.

As we noted in our previous coverage, the order was condemned by legal scholars who labeled it judicial overreach.

“This is a clear case of a judiciary overreaching its power,” said Javier Moreno, a legal scholar specializing in international law. “Forcing a company to comply with secret orders that violate multiple international laws sets a dangerous precedent.”

Despite the strong stand Musk and X took, it Appears Apple may be going a different route. According to Proton, users are having trouble downloading Proton VPN.

We have received multiple reports today from users in Brazil having difficulties installing the Proton VPN app on iOS devices via the Apple App Store. We can confirm that the issue is not on our side, but likely with the App Store itself, which is controlled by Apple. What makes this an extremely strange coincidence is that it is also impacting multiple other VPNs in the Brazilian app store.

Proton acknowledges it’s not 100% certain if the issue is accidental or the result of secret censorship.

Most likely, something has happened on the Apple side, and we do not know if it is accidental, or if Apple is secretly implementing a censorship order. But because of Apple’s monopoly on iOS app distribution, there is no other way to get the app on iOS devices.

Of course, the timing is suspicious—coming right after an attempt at secret censorship of X—as is the fact that VPN apps appear to be the only ones impacted.

WPN has reached out to Apple for comment and will update with any response received.