To block or not to block…

We’re seeing more and more governments toying with the idea of blocking websites that promote violence, and are ‘harmful’ to their citizens. Personal views, opinions of bloggers and freedom of expression advocates who dare to criticize governments are not welcome. This has resulted in a number of countries such as Turkey and Russia to crack down on political opponents, and place blocks on a number of websites, introduce methods to track and monitor people’s surfing habits placing a stranglehold on the right to a free and open internet.


Recently Ukraine moved dangerously close to copying Russia to shut down media companies in a bid to protect the country’s security and national interests, and without a court order. A number of press organizations including Reporters without Borders, heavily criticized the government calling the draft law “draconian.”  According to some news outlets, including the Global Journalist reported that the government has now removed it from the draft bill. A great win for an open and free internet, however, HMA! will be keeping a close eye on this situation.

Malaysia has also been thinking about imposing a website block, on Facebook. Around 2,000 cases of abuse reported by Facebook users prompted the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek to listen to Malaysians, saying “If the people are of the opinion that Facebook should be closed, we are prepared to look into the matter.”

A number of suggestions on how to control abuse, have included Facebook users to register their accounts with governmental authorities, but this would require co-operation from Facebook in the United States which would be very difficult to implement. Many organizations are worried that if this did go ahead, free speech would be killed.

However, the Minister has now changed his mind and has said that the government has no intention of blocking the social media site. Again, HMA! we be closely monitoring this situation.

According to internet freedom watchdog Freedom House, a New Press law is currently in committee in The Parliament of Turkey, which would force internet news sites to register their names with government authorities, mirroring the law which came into effect in Russia on 1 August.

Freedom House recently released a report “The Struggle for Turkey’s Internet” which describes the country as a “battleground state,” meaning “it is a place where a young population, improving technology, and international connections could result in a free Internet the world might envy, or where government tactics might provide a model for shutting down a vibrant online sphere.”

Where there’s internet censorship, there is HMA! Pro VPN. At HMA! we strongly believe that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, and we greatly oppose governments who place blocks on websites denying their netizens the fundamental human right to access sites that they should have 100 per cent access to.

Internet users’ around the world use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to get around website blocks, and bypass government censorship.

Once you have purchased an HMA! Pro VPN subscription, it will only take a few minutes to set it up on your Mac, PC, Android, or iPhone and then you’re ready to surf the net, access all your favourite websites, post on forums and blogs, and communicate with the outside world. When you select one of our VPN servers you are assigned one our IP addresses, your original IP is hidden from your ISP, so you are free to browse the internet without the worry of your government or ISP snooping on your online activities.

For more information and to find out other ways a VPN can help you, visit our website.