These days, it’s quite common for the internet to be affected by censorship, which results in a decline in online freedom across the globe. Television and print media are often state-run, and opposition news is taken down. Countries like Australia, the USA, France, and others also have conversational laws restricting internet freedom, which causes people to use social networks. Even these channels are not safe from authorities.
With multiple levels of restriction over the content on the internet, monitoring, and distribution with access, some governments and private entities may censor those for safety and security, but sometimes it is also used to suppress free speech and government dissent, which varies on a country-to-country basis. While some countries have moderate internet, some may have limited access to the news.
VPNs are quite helpful for bypassing online censorship, and a lot of countries recently saw global internet freedom decline for the 12th consecutive year in 2022. Some of the worst offenders are China, Iran, Syria, Cuba, and North Korea, which block political and religious content and prevent access to independent news sources, only allowing state-approved media. More than 1.72 billion people are affected by internet censorship. Because of internet censorship, limits the freedom of expression, access to information, privacy, and association.
With the help of VPNs, you can protect yourself from government surveillance while having access to the information you need. More than ever before, there are a lot of ways to bypass online censorship, including free, freemium, and premium options. For journalists, citizens, activists, and whistleblowers, it’s essential to get connected to the internet to find articles and media, for which they might require to bypass online censorship to protect themselves.
What is Online Censorship?
Internet censorship, or online censorship, is the practice of controlling or suppressing what can be viewed online or accessed publicly. It is mostly done by governments, organizations, or individuals to restrict access to digital media. Big tech companies like Google and Facebook also practice some degree of censorship by blocking access to some content, which could be related to banned social media content, manipulated search results, and taking down websites. However, they sometimes share your data with the government, and two-thirds of the requests are fulfilled by these companies.
For regular users, there are some negative impacts of the information, and sometimes it is also dangerous to express political content. Expressing political discontent can be dangerous, which could lead to legal consequences. News websites like BBC and DW often get banned for their press releases and are often held off because of political opposition.
Press Restrictions in Different Countries
While some countries have laws to protect the freedom of speech, which is a fundamental right that allows its citizens to express their opinions and beliefs without fear of censorship or retaliation, it should be done responsibly, and there are certain limitations. In recent times, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist, was killed in 2018 for criticizing the Saudi regime.
Azory Gwanda, a Tanzanian journalist, went missing in 2017 and was later found to have been murdered in his region. Juan Pardinas, a Mexican newspaper editor, started receiving death threats for his policies and rhetoric. On the other hand, in India, multiple FIRs were filed against Arnab Goswami, Amish Devgan, and Nupur J Sharma, who also faced criminal charges for allegedly hurting religious sentiments or defaming political leaders. Meanwhile, Alexei Navalny was jailed for his anti-corruption campaigns and protests against President Vladimir Putin.
India
The world’s biggest democracy has also faced challenges since 2019 when the Indian government annexed the independent state of Kashmir. Critical voices were suppressed, charges were filed against journalists, and other top editors were fired.
Belarus
Since 2020, the authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko has faced mass protests throughout the country, and many journalists have been imprisoned, fined, and beaten while media outlets face heavy censorship.
Myanmar
Since 2021, a military coup has overthrown democratically elected officials, and the government has restricted internet access and arrested many journalists, accusing them of spreading fake news.
Hong Kong
After the Anti-Beijing protests in 2019, the government cracked down on demonstrations, harassing and imprisoning journalists while media outlets faced censorship.
Iran
Iran is well-known for tight censorship and serious violations of freedom of speech. During the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists whose investigations questioned official government reports were targeted.
That’s not all. Countries like North Korea and Turkmenistan did not even report COVID-19 cases, and journalists who questioned the government are suspected of hiding information about the virus and ended up in jail.
Is it Legal to Use?
VPNs are legal in most countries, but there is a major risk of fines or even imprisonment if you use a VPN in countries that ban them, such as North Korea, China, and Russia. Some countries make using VPNs illegal, like North Korea, Belarus, Oman, Iraq, and Turkmenistan, while some countries only allow selected VPNs to be used, such as China, Russia, Turkey, UAE, India, Iran, Egypt, and Uganda.
Some countries also made using VPNs with a Tor Network illegal. Even in countries that allow VPNs, they have to comply with regulations, which include collecting and storing user data to share with authorities, which sometimes results in jail sentences for VPN providers. However, using VPNs isn’t technically illegal in India yet, but they are not fundamentally allowing the use of VPNs.
Best Browser for Privacy
Before proceeding, you should clear your deleted saved passwords, disable cookies in your browser, limit the amount of data you share, and avoid bad internet habits. Some of the best browsers known for their privacy features are Firefox, Epic, Tor Browser, Brave, and Librewolf.
NordVPN
If you are a journalist or media professional facing severe oppression or media blackouts, you can request emergency VPN access to get six months of free NordVPN access. NordVPN is quite reliable, and trusted, and uses industry-best encryption.
If you can afford NordVPN, then you can rely on it as one of the most trusted and best-performing VPN service providers that you can use. You can also use the NordVPN Meshnet function, which allows you to connect multiple devices for remote access through secure encrypted tunnels.
ProtonVPN
This is a freemium VPN service that you can use to unblock geo-locked websites. ProtonVPN and Deutsche Welle have partnered to fight censorship in countries where DW has been banned. It’s a one-of-a-kind partnership to defend freedom of speech and to support independent media in countries where the government censors objective reporting. The company has marked some of its VPN servers with a DW logo. You can use US, Netherlands, or Japan with the DW logo to bypass censorship to access DW news coverage.
It brings several benefits to whistleblowers, journalists, and activists to avoid censorship across the world. Deutsche Welle (DW) is one of the international news organizations that describe itself on its website. Germany-based and state-funded under the Deutsche Welle Act to keep it independent and free of government interference. They cover 32 languages across the globe, but those become invaluable if governments block those reporting as DW TV Channel and Website is already banned in Turkey, Iran, and Russia.
