How to Bypass Internet Restrictions and Blocks to View Any Website

It doesn’t matter where you live in the world; there are times when you will come across blocked sites and restricted areas of the internet. But if you come across internet blocking, don’t panic: just know how to bypass banned sites and internet restrictions.

Why some websites are blocked and restricted

There are many reasons why a website can be blocked.

1. Many services use geo-blocking tools to restrict access to their content in certain countries. The problem is perhaps most commonly associated with the Netflix catalog. However, it can also apply to social media videos (such as sports clips), news articles, and even entire services that are not available outside of their country of origin (such as Hulu).
2. Governments often block access to sites to suit their agenda. China’s internet restrictions are perhaps the most famous example, with its Great Firewall blocking popular sites, including X (Twitter), Instagram and YouTube. But we also saw Turkey block access to social media in 2016 in an attempt to quell protests, and Sri Lanka shut down access to Facebook after terrorist attacks in April 2019, ostensibly to prevent the spread of fake news. Other countries block access to streaming sites like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and so on, while others provide no access to news sites.
3. Employers often block sites on their internal networks to increase productivity and eliminate distractions, as frustrating as that can be. The situation is similar for most schools and educational facilities.

Other restrictions may not be permanent. For example, some music videos on YouTube were banned in Germany for a period of time, which ended when YouTube and the German authorities reached a profit-sharing agreement. But more commonly, some governments will block internet access to certain sites during periods of unrest or key periods such as elections.

How to bypass blocked sites

If you come across a restricted website, what can you do? Here are the best ways to bypass blocked sites and access any site you want.

1. Use a VPN

The most popular way to access blocked websites is to use a high-quality paid virtual private network (VPN).

VPNs have many benefits, but the most important of them is that they give you an IP address in another country when dealing with a blocked website. A foreign IP address makes it appear that you are based in a different location, which means that you will not trigger the geoblocking of the site and can bypass restrictions.

Some services block access from VPN IP addresses. In practice, this has resulted in a massive game of cat and mouse, in which the VPN providers mostly win.

VPNs are incredibly easy to use: download the app to your phone or computer, enter your credentials, and select the location of the VPN server you want to connect to.

Note that you can use free VPNs, but many of these services log traffic data or provide subpar protection. It is generally safer to avoid free VPNs and opt for a legitimate and trusted paid service.

Do you need a VPN? You can get discounted plans with CyberGhost and ExpressVPN if you sign up using these links. Both are reputable, efficient and considerate of your privacy.

2. Use Smart DNS

Services such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer have banned VPNs, resulting in the growth of smart DNS providers. These providers offer a way to bypass restricted websites. However, Smart DNS services have some advantages and disadvantages compared to VPNs.

Internet speed is one of the most significant benefits of using Smart DNS to bypass a website block. Unlike VPNs, which route all your web traffic through another network, Smart DNS providers only need to redirect your location information. This process results in faster browsing.

On the other hand, DNS services do not offer the same privacy benefits as VPNs. They don’t encrypt your traffic or hide your IP. If the authorities in your location are likely to prosecute based on the sites you visit, a smart DNS provider is not for you.

3. Use a free proxy

If you need a quick one-time access to a blocked website, a free proxy can be the solution.

A proxy hides your IP address, helping to mask your location. However, it will not encrypt your traffic. The lack of encryption means that proxies are not as secure as VPNs; they are an excellent option for bypassing blocks on work and school networks, but they are not suitable for anonymous browsing.

In addition, proxies are usually much slower than VPNs. You will also find that they often have problems with page formatting and images. Both of these issues prevent them from being reliable long-term solutions. You should also make sure that you are using a legitimate proxy that you can trust.

4. Use the Tor browser

When you use the Tor network to browse the web, your traffic is wrapped in several layers of encryption and taken on a long journey through a worldwide system of nodes. This process makes it nearly impossible for a normal website to know where the request is coming from, so it’s unlikely to get caught by any blocking filters. Tor is free to download and is used by millions of people around the world every day.

However, you should be aware that Tor and the dark web are not completely anonymous. Government authorities can and do monitor persons of interest in the network. The process is just more complicated than it would be with traditional browsers and Internet channels.

5. Use your smartphone as a hotspot

You can always switch to another network in no time. If you’re connected to Wi-Fi in the library, which will of course limit some content, you can switch to your smartphone’s hotspot and use it.

Once you’ve read, watched or listened to restricted content, you can always go back and continue using free Wi-Fi.

6. Alternate between HTTP and HTTPS

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In the early days of the web, all web page URLs used Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). However, it was considered insecure and unsuitable for the modern Internet, and Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) was developed. The newer version added much-needed additional encryption to your website connections, making it harder for people to track and intercept your online activities.

The only problem was that not all websites wanted to start using HTTPS right away, while others continued with both the HTTP and HTTPS versions. The latter situation created a situation where forcing a switch between the two versions of the transport protocol could allow access to previously restricted websites.

However, since most websites now use HTTPS exclusively, this solution is much less common. It’s also worth noting that using HTTP is less secure and could put your data at risk.

Danger of accessing content on restricted networks

Sometimes there are good reasons why certain institutions want to block access to certain content. Since the dawn of the internet, kids have been trying to get around banned websites at school. But in reality, educational institutions block content for one reason: security. It’s simply not appropriate for schools to allow access to adult content, regardless of your personal opinion.

Accessing blocked websites on a restricted network, such as an educational facility or your workplace, can also have serious consequences depending on the content being accessed. Bypassing blocked sites at school can get you expelled, while at work you can face termination or even legal consequences. And in some countries, circumventing internet restrictions could lead to problems with the government, especially in places with authoritarian leadership.

So while we are not against bypassing blocked sites, remember that it is extremely important to be safe.