This is how to overcome the “content not available in your country” Internet censorship nightmare

Internet censorship is the control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet. It may be carried out by governments or by private organizations at the behest of government, regulators, or on their own initiative – Wikipedia

Internet censorship is a reality out there. Kenya is lucky enough to have not experienced any that I am aware of. There are nations out there that do not have the luxury to surf the wild wide web as they would wish. Some nations have their internet connection shut down completely though for a specific duration. Others have specific sites blocked for a short period while others are not so lucky enough and have some sites banned completely.

Around July this year, students in Iraq were sitting for their exams. The government, through the Ministry of Communications, turned off all broadband and mobile broadband connections. The reason been so that the students could not cheat on their exams. The whole nation had to endure without internet connection because of this. This was the second year in a row the government was taking this measure. With the current state of affairs in the education system back here at home, could this be the next alternative?

We have also had of cases where by the government was forced to shut down the internet connection to cool down the political tension. Do not look any further.  Our neighbour’s from Uganda experienced it first-hand. Uganda is not the only isolated case. Brazil also features in this list.

The Rio Olympics are going on. Due to the difference in time zone some events take place very late. Sometimes you lie to yourself you will only take a quick nap and wake up just in time to catch the event. Woe unto you to only wake up at six in the morning. You rush to twitter to try and get the latest short clips or videos from the event. Under Moments section you will find twitter has a dedicated tab dubbed Rio 2016. You see a video from @NBCOlympics that captures the event. You click and wait for bit to play. Then you get the following feedback;

“THIS CONTENT IS NOT AVAILABLE IN YOUR COUNTRY.”

The consumption of the content is for a select country or region. This is not a unique case. If you try to stream BBC Radio 5 you will be met with a message that it is not possible due to region restrictions. Before Netflix launched in Kenya, you could not access the content unless of course you knew your way around a VPN.

A VPN grants you the power to access restricted content. It helps you overcome government restrictions. Above it all it ensures your connection to the internet remains secure. You do not even have to subscribe to an expensive VPN service provider. Opera browser has a built in VPN.  Guess now  you do not have any excuse for not consuming that particular content that interests you online.

Mr. Felix227 Posts

A Math Nerd and a Computer Geek. Currently a Windows 10 Insider. Interested in AI, big data and AR/VR. Takes a keen interest in developments in the tech, business and social media spheres.

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