Social media isn't just a place for pictures of cats. Uprising in Egypt and the Ukraine have shown that it is also a place where people can band together to create revolutions.
Some governments around the world feel threatened by this, and so have limited internet usage in their respective countries.
This infographic from whoishostingthis gives a quick snapshot of just a few countries censoring social media today and offers some tips on how to bypass the bans and access those blocked websites.
Key takeaways:
North Korea, Iran and China have blocked Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
Pakistani govt. blocked YouTube when a trailer for the controversial film "The Innocence of Muslims" appeared on the site.
Facebook is also banned in Vietnam and YouTube in Turkey.
How to get around the bans:
Except for North Korea, many people can bypass the bans and access social media through:Proxy services: These change the location of where you sign in to different websites. These services can either be free or paid for.
VPNs: A VPN (virtual private network) provides encrypted links directly to private networks in other countries, allowing computers to behave as if it were in another country.
Browsers: The most popular anonymous browser is Tor. Traffic is routed through the Tor network, where a number of encrypted routes cover your tracks so no observer is able to tell where data is coming from.