For a few years now we have watched Internet censorship grow. It has become more severe in some countries and spread to others. We have watched governments try to control that platform that was created for the purpose of free access to information and open communication. This is why we now have a World Day Against Cyber Censorship, celebrated on March 12. And also the reason for anti-censorship VPNs like iVPN which give us back that freedom and unlimited access that censorship has taken away.
World Day Against Cyber Censorship
World Day Against Cyber Censorship is a project of Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International. It is a call to all Internet users to join in fighting for an Internet that retains its original freedoms. Some are trying to decentralize the Internet so they can run their own little corners of it as they see fit. But this is not the same as enjoying the Internet as we came to love it. This day is about restoring an Internet that upholds freedom of the press and freedom of access to content of all kinds. And it is a day that also calls for restoring Internet users’ privacy and security online.
Internet users in many countries face government harassment and imprisonment for exercising their freedoms. This includes accessing information that is freely shared with them through various websites. They do not enjoy the universal rights of freedom of speech and are routinely monitored and blocked from reading news and other information sites. Many protesters around the world have suffered because they stood up against information blackouts and used the Internet as a tool for freedom.
Internet censorship violates the freedoms of people in China, Cuba, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Belarus, Burma, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Vietnam. And people in France, India, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Australia, Egypt, Eritrea, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates are under constant Internet surveillance.
