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Why Are VPNs Still Illegal in Some Countries?

Monday, September 7, 2020 23:42

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Why Are VPNs Still Illegal in Some Countries?

A VPN is a powerful tool that can help you get around efforts to regulate or censor the information you access on the Internet. Free access to the Internet is a repulsive idea to repressive governments. They want to strictly control what their citizens know about the rest of the world and how their citizens see their own government.

Therefore, several governments around the world have either blocked or are attempting to block VPNs. Understandably, people are upset when their government tries to prevent them from accessing the Internet using a VPN. It is difficult for repressive regimes to enforce their VPN ban.

A VPN allows a person to have unrestricted and private access to the Internet. Repressive governments that are determined to control the mind’s of their citizens refuse to let them have this freedom. The idea of their citizens having access to unfiltered news, social media, or the ability to use a VPN for torrenting means the big government-run telcos losing control of their content – a scary thought.

Countries Where VPNs Are Illegal

China

China has done more than any other country on the planet to block VPNs. A VPN that is used in the country must be licensed by the Chinese government. This means that the Chinese government has full access to the information being transmitted using the VPN.

Any VPN that does not receive a license from the Chinese government will be closed if they are local or blocked if they are from a country outside of China. China is one of the few repressive regimes on the planet that have been successful in completely controlling ISPs. They have mastered the use of deep packet inspection to monitor traffic that goes into or leaves China. For this reason, China is more successful than other countries in blocking VPN and Tor traffic.

Iran

Iran is another country that has done a magnificent job at blocking all VPNs that do not originate or are not licensed in Iran. Any VPN that functions in the country must be registered with the Iranian government. Iranian citizens must live with the fear that if they use or promote a VPN, they are committing a crime and can be punished. Still, there are many Iranian citizens and government officials who use a VPN to access content and websites that are banned in the country.

Russia

Russia is another country that comes to mind when thinking about repressive governments determined to control free speech and access to information. In 2016, Russia passed a law requiring VPN services to register with the government. They require all VPNs to log the activity of their users. In 2017, Russia expanded their law to require that VPNs prevent users from accessing websites that the Russian government has deemed inappropriate. Any VPN that did not comply with Russia’s demands was banned.

Another country to include in this list would be Iraq, which has used their fight with ISIS as a pretense for banning freedom of speech. North Korea is secretive, so it is difficult to ascertain how the government controls Internet activity. What is known for a fact is that they have outlawed VPNs within the nation. Interestingly, the North Korea ban only applies to citizens. Tourists can use VPNs within the country legally. Belarus, Oman, Turkey, Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Uganda are just a few other countries that have attempted to control their citizens by banning VPNs.

Why it Is Important to Fight for Internet Freedom Around the World

Simply put, a world without free Internet is a world that no one wants to be a part of. At its heart, Internet freedom embodies the ideas that have been written in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

When repressive governments try to misuse the Internet, restrict freedom of expression, or use the Internet as a tool for tracking dissidents, they are harming their citizens and the global community. Free access to information from the Internet is at the heart of economic development. Vibrant civil society and innovation control where freedom of information exists.

One of the primary reasons governments attempt to block the Internet is because they are afraid that their citizens will tell the world about abuses, deprivations, and other failures by the government. When citizens can access the Internet freely, they can hold their government and its leaders accountable for their actions.

Free access to the Internet is an issue that affects businesses, governments, religious organizations, scientists, artists, scholars, and people from every walk of life around the globe. Freedom of the Internet is important for a society to be modern and to be free.

Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written decades before the Internet became what it is today, this bill enshrined the fact that everyone has a right to information. Everyone should have freedom of opinion and freedom of expression. It states that this freedom should be available without interference and that people should be able to impart and receive information and ideas through the media of their choice regardless of frontiers.

The Internet gives people the power to create, to share, to speak, and to learn. Over 4.57 billion people, or 57 percent of the world’s population, are active Internet users. The Internet is the force behind the economy in the 21st century. It allows small businesses the ability to have a global reach. It has created hundreds of thousands of businesses and has led to millions of people being employed. Just imagine what the world could be like if 100 percent of its population were unable to freely exchange ideas, technology, and beliefs.

History is full of examples of governments attempting to “protect” their citizens from harmful information by controlling their access to information. History is replete with leaders who felt that inhibiting freedom of expression and freedom of thought was in their country’s best interests. History has proven that each one of these leaders was wrong. Their citizens and country suffered.

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