Internet Restrictions by Country - What's Blocked Where

Internet restrictions vary widely by country. Common targets include social media platforms, messenger apps, adult content, VPN services and online gambling. Countries with the strictest censorship - China, Iran and Turkmenistan - block thousands of websites. Use this page to check specific categories.

Governments use DNS blocking, IP filtering, deep packet inspection and ISP-level throttling to restrict access. Some countries require ISPs to block specific domains; others filter traffic at the national level. The technical methods differ, but the effect - inability to access certain content - is the same.

China operates the most extensive censorship system, known as the Great Firewall, blocking Google, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram and thousands of other services. Iran, Russia and Turkmenistan also impose heavy restrictions. Temporary blocks during elections or protests occur in many other countries.

A personal VPN server with a dedicated IP routes your traffic through a country where access is unrestricted. Unlike shared VPN services, your own server provides a private IP not linked to other users - so it doesn't appear on the blocklists censors build from known VPN IPs. Protocols like VLESS+Reality also make VPN traffic look like regular HTTPS, which helps against deep packet inspection. Deploy in minutes from a location of your choice.