this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2024
275 points (99.3% liked)

Technology

59421 readers
3944 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
275
Bangladesh social media censorship leads to over 7000% increase in VPN usage (www.techradar.com)
submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
9 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

People in Bangladesh have turned en masse to the VPN apps to bypass ongoing internet restrictions in the aftermath of widespread anti-government protests.

The first spike in VPN usage was recorded on July 23, 2024, when authorities began to ease fixed-line internet restrictions after five days of complete internet shutdown.

Mobile connectivity was restored on Sunday, July 28. Yet, access to the likes of Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, and YouTube is still restricted at the time of writing. This explains why data shows VPN downloads and signups continue to be high across the region.

Proton recorded VPN usage spikes in 11 countries since January alone. Similarly to the Bangladesh case, most of them were linked with social unrest including Kenya at the end of June, New Caledonia in May, and Senegal in February.

With social media platforms being blocked in Bangladesh at the time of writing, VPNs remain a crucial tool if you're inside the country.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Quite a bit actually. Traditionally, only those who wishes "freedom" would contact outside, then there people who work with foreign companies/individuals, any tech who work in IT would need vpn, those who came back from studying aboard, and newly, theres celebrity fans who use vpn only to follow their favorite celebrity.