Internet for all!

In the age of technology and the internet, freedom to information can seem like a basic human right. In this day and age, it’s hard to imagine not being able to access the content you want to work, study or enjoy yourself – yet for some countries this is sadly the reality.

In countries such as China or North Korea, without a VPN system like the one described in ExpressVPN review, a person’s access to online resources is closely monitored and controlled, often with strict restrictions. While most democratic countries and even some private corporations have some degree of online censorship in order to protect users from offensive content, such as a ban on Nazi-related material in France and Germany and Facebook and Google’s recent plight against extremist content, opponents to censorship have flagged concerns about the objectives behind it. For example, censorship might be used to silence political adversaries or minority groups. Such was the case in July 2015, when Russia first blocked the official website page of the Christian denomination Jehovah’s Witness. In fact, a recent World Economic Forum study, entitled ‘Freedom on the Net’, found that a mere 24% of the internet population had completely free access, while 29% enjoyed partly free access and 35% had no free access. The same study also found that 67% of all internet users live in countries where censorship may apply to any form of criticism of the government, military, or ruling family.

Most forms of censorship on the internet do not remove data, but simply restrict access to it. Therefore, to go around out, some choose to implement a VPN (Virtual Private Network), which is a security mechanism that makes use of an encrypted connection between a computer and a server operated by the VPN service, or in other words, it is a service that digs a secret tunnel along a road that is internet network. Originally designed with corporations in mind, the aim of VPNs was to enable employees to access company networks while working remotely, while blocking other users from the data through several elements.

Yet, consumer VPN services are also available, opening the doors to uncensored internet access and unblocking websites. VPN services work by redirecting the user’s traffic through servers located in other locations. For instance, internet users in China are not able to access Google, Facebook or YouTube, among numerous other sites. Through a VPN service, the user’s traffic is routed through other servers, say in Hungary or the UK. This tricks most websites into thinking the user is accessing the site from these alternate locations, thereby bypassing the filtering systems. However, users beware. It might be wise to read up and download the service beforehand when planning to travel to countries with such restrictions, as these countries might also block VPN websites. Another issue with VPN service is that it may require some in-depth knowledge into technology, therefore making it inaccessible to non-tech savvy internet users.

Our best advice is to do your research, read some reviews, and find out the best solution for you, your country of use, and of course, what you are using the internet for.

Source: DNH PR