Twitter is many things to many people. It can be used to stay in touch with friends. It can be used to share jokes. It can be used for video. It can be used for pornography. And it can be used to share news stories and current events. These last two uses are why people need to unblock Twitter as censorship happens.
This article is going to look at censorship and blocking issues with Twitter, and offer you real solutions on how to get around it.
Unblock Twitter: Get around online censorship
Twitter can be blocked on a number of levels, and is much like any other type of geo blocking of online content. The first level is by your school, your library, or your workplace. These institutions are, likely, blocking Twitter to prevent people from accessing porn freely, and to keep people ‘on task.’
My twitter game has been lacking ever since they blocked it at work…
— Ryan Wojda (@ryanwojda) October 12, 2015
While these types of censorship are understandable, they can also be really annoying. We all get break time from work. Why not chat a bit on Twitter? And who’s to say what we can and can’t do during recess from school?
Twitter's now blocked at school…I just died inside
— Lauren Cook (@LaurenCook1D) November 9, 2015
The second time for when people need to learn how to unblock Twitter is when it happens on a national level. Twitter can be used as a real-time news sharing service, as well as a real-time planning tool.
Governments that are authoritarian have been known to shut down Twitter access during times of unrest to lower the resistance’s ability to communicate and organize. This happened most notably during the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt in 2011. Twitter has since been restored, but there was a time when the people of Egypt needed a way to unblock Twitter to keep their momentum going. It has even been in the news in India lately that a journalist is being blocked, along with a hashtag:
So @Twitter has blocked and removed the hastag from trends list. Unfortunate that @TwitterIndia behaving like paid media.#AdvaniRevolts
— With Congress (@WithCongress) November 10, 2015
Countries which completely block Twitter
While this spotty censorship is bad, people in some countries have not even been that lucky. Three countries block Twitter completely on a national level:
- North Korea
- China
- Iran
Each country has imposed a national level firewall that blocks all traffic to Twitter. With China being such a tourist hotspot, many people are shocked to find that they can’t live tweet their experience on the Great Wall of China!
Not only are countries blocking Twitter entirely, but some others are blocking certain tweets and having some tweets deleted. Countries that have done this in the past include:
- India
- France
- Russia
- South Korea
- Turkey
- Venezuela
Many people across the world need a way to unblock Twitter. Let’s look at that now!
Unblock Twitter with a VPN : Encrypt your way to freedom!
A
On another level, a
Last, when you’re at school, work, or any public WiFi connection, you can unblock your access to Twitter. This is again due to the encryption of your activity. All that the software monitoring the Internet can see is the amount of data you’re transmitting, and when you connected. It can’t see that you’re on Twitter, and it therefore can not block it.
When to install the VPN
As always, the sooner the better. Some countries, like China and Iran, have placed restrictions on VPNs. Installing one before travelling there is very important. This is certainly very true about smartphone VPNs as the Google Play store, and all of Google, is blocked in China!
For other
Be sure to connect to a
Feature image via Julia Tim / Shutterstock