This article is published in collaboration with Statista
by Martin Armstrong
Since 2015, at least 71 countries worldwide have blocked or restricted access to social networks. This is the result of the online privacy and security company Surfshark's study of 193 UN nations. Currently, about two percent of the countries surveyed are blocking access to social media and communication apps. All of them are in Asia: China, North Korea, Turkmenistan and Iran. it is mainly foreign social networks such as Twitter and Facebook that are blocked, and it should be noted that China has its own national ecosystem of social networks and communication apps. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates restrict the use of internet calls through voice-over IPs.
According to the analysts, such restrictions are often linked to undemocratic governments. Consequently, African and Asian countries have restricted access most frequently in the past five years. However, in most cases, the restrictions are temporary. The most recent example cited by the source is that of Burkino Faso: "Significant internet disruptions were recorded amid arrests related to an alleged coup plot. Incident was observed from the afternoon of January 10, 2022, and as of Tuesday 11th, reports likely indicated the restriction of Facebook and WhatsApp."
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