The internet has become an essential part of many people’s lives worldwide. However, depending on where you live, you may or may not have access to specific websites. Internet censorship, or regulation of internet use, is common in many nations worldwide. The government, employer, or internet service provider could enforce it.

Internet censorship can be damaging in many ways and restrict the freedom of a country’s people. Let us go over how internet censorship impacts you and if it is positive or destructive to your online activity.

Defining internet censorship

Internet censorship is the state or institution-supervised control of websites and information available to the public via the internet. Users are prohibited from accessing online information that companies consider private or sensitive. The state-subjected censorship takes the shape of a government-issued regulation or statute.

Content on the internet is regionally restricted, which means that users from a specific geographical place cannot access certain content online. In most circumstances, limited websites in one location or region can be easily accessible from another. Many social networking platforms are blocked in countries around the world. For example, you would need an India VPN to access streaming services only available to the country. 

The subjects censored can differ based on the entity that instituted the censorship. For example, a corporation may block social networking sites from its network to ensure employees save time on those platforms. A country may restrict speech to combat fake news or for political purposes.

Internet censorship can cover a variety of things, including:

• Power and politics
• Content that is obscene or improper
• Social networking sites
• Online gambling sites
• News media
• National security
  

How does this work?

Censorship of the internet can take numerous forms. One of the most common methods of restricting access is to block website IP addresses, which are numbers that indicate the location of a website or device. This instructs your device to avoid specific filtered IP addresses. An internet service provider, a corporation, or a government organization may ban particular IP addresses.

Keywords can also be used to restrict access. This method is frequently utilized in parental restrictions. Keyword limitations search for specific terms that could suggest something is wrong.

All in all, there are numerous methods for censoring material online. Firewalls are used by certain businesses to filter and prohibit content based on protocols, ports, network addresses, source IP addresses, or destination IP addresses.

Where is censorship most prevalent?

The situation with internet censorship in China is well known. The one-party state imposes stringent internet censorship on the country’s more than 500 million residents. The government has prohibited several news sites and social media apps, prohibiting protests, minority rights, and pornography. Russia is another country known for constant internet shutdowns.

The assumption is that government-imposed censorship is most prevalent in harsh and feudal regimes. India’s crackdown on internet freedom has been a reflection of political upheaval. In recent years, the administration has granted itself new powers to tighten restrictions over online content, allowing officials to legally collect messages, crack encryption, and shut down networks during times of political upheaval. The government used internet blackouts more than 100 times in 2021 alone. According to experts and journalists, this attempts to restructure the Indian internet, resulting in a less open and diverse place for the country’s 800 million users.

How can we get around internet censorship?

A VPN can help you avoid internet censorship by providing an IP address outside the restricted country. You could be in a foreign nation with limited social media or other internet information access. A VPN allows you to appear as an IP address elsewhere to gain access when you are in another country and also protects users from cybercrimes.

VPNs feature secure global servers in various nations and places worldwide. You can connect to one of these servers, fooling websites into thinking you’re connecting from the server’s location. The VPN will establish a private tunnel between your device and the server, enabling your device to connect to the internet as if it were physically situated in the server’s exact location. This lets you connect to the internet generally while avoiding some countries’ rigorous internet censorship rules.

Are there any positive sides to internet censorship?

Censorship online can prevent people from engaging in immoral or destructive behaviors. From selling dangerous narcotics to having access to child pornography, the internet typically provides easy access to a wide range of illegal activities.

Access to indecent and distressing content is also a good cause for restriction. Aside from watching pornographic content, internet users in most nations have access to horrible crime films and uncensored content about killings occurring in real-time.

Censorship also provides protection against identity theft, a growing scam in most developed countries. Stealing vital personal information becomes relatively more straightforward with no additional restriction on internet access.

Finally, internet censorship can help remove or decrease the amount of erroneous data floating around the internet. Fake news is a typical occurrence in countries experiencing political instability. False news, if not censored, might lead to even more severe consequences. 

Wrapping up

While this idea of internet censorship remains foreign to many people worldwide, especially in Western countries, it is accurate. The concept of internet censorship is nearly impossible to depict in black and white. Although there are some drawbacks to ongoing online surveillance, one cannot deny that it has some advantages.