Russia has caused the most expensive internet blockage of
2022 by first controlling the access and then blocking it specifically to
social media sites and news outlets. This data is in accordance with tech
company Top 10 VPN. The service puts the economic cost at $21.6 billion in the
country between the attack of Ukraine in February and the end of the year.
Since the blockages are country-wide, the large number of people affected becomes
the reason of the high price tag.
A study was recently conducted on the effectiveness of Netflix
VPN bans across different VPN platforms. Since Netflix provides its content on
the basis of regions, this means that not all TV shows and films are available
to watch in every country.
As a result, many users utilize VPN software to get access to Netflix content that may not be legally available to them. For instance, a user from a South Asian country could use a VPN service to get access to a server in a European country.
A Chinese-owned app called Tuber has just been launched, that allows access to domestically banned content on Western social media sites like YouTube. The app apparently is the first product of a Chinese tech firm that is allowing users to bypass the Great Firewall.
The Chinese cybersecurity firm that has launched the app is called Qihoo 360 and it is the biggest tech firm in the country.
Tuber is not yet available for download on Apple’s App Store, but has been downloaded millions of times from other sites.
Recently, interest in Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) has increased as TikTok is being banned or threatened to be restricted in several countries. The Vice President of ExpressVPN observed that there was an increased number of governments around the globe that were trying to control the access of information to their citizens.
VPNs are used to access blocked sites and services, therefore they are used by a lot of people around the world. ExpressVPN has over 3000 servers across 94 countries. There was a 10% increase in its week-over-week traffic following the announcement of a potential ban on TikTok by the U.S. government. Similarly, the service in Australia and Japan also experienced a 41% and 19% increase in traffic, respectively, after their governments made the same announcement. In India, the service experienced a 22% WoW jump in traffic. In Hong Kong, as a result of the enactment of the national security law, TikTok voluntarily pulled out and ExpressVPN saw an increase of 10% in traffic growth.
According to a Hong Kong media scholar, VPN is no ''magic bullet'' as governments can make it hard for citizens to access VPNs by removing them from local app stores. In order for someone to register in another regional app store, it still won't be a convenient process as they will have to face obstacles such as the requirement of a local credit card. Similarly, governments can also illegalize the use of VPN services by imposing fine on users and even imprisoning VPN vendors.
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