The recent political turmoil in Egypt has been a hot topic in recent days as tensions escalated during the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. As you consider the implications of events like these around the world, you should realize that the events in Egypt are a strong argument for using a VPN.

Internet freedom is the first to go

When Hosni Mubarak’s reign came to an end in 2011 during a political uprising, Egypt made international headlines by basically shutting down the Internet within the country. No information could get in or out of Egypt. Sadly, these types of measures are taken by many governments in their attempts to control protests. While few countries have gone to the extremes that Egypt did, selective blocking and censorship are a common occurrence in China, Burma, and many Arab regions.

Internet censorship in Egypt can happen without advance warning. If you happen to be working or traveling in the country, being unprepared for this type of restriction can hamper your ability to get reliable news or contact family members in your home country. It can be a scary thought to find oneself isolated in a hostile environment.

Imagine not being able to access vital information that pertains to your safety. This is exactly what happened to some American citizens recently in Egypt due to Internet restrictions that could have been bypassed with a VPN. Some American citizens may not have received the directive published by the US State Department ordering them to leave the country immediately because the directive was released via news outlets.

In times of political crisis, news outlets are often considered a threat. This was the case during the Egyptian uprising. Morsi’s administration sought to actively control what information could be accessed from within the country, primarily through geo-restriction, so that Morsi’s opponents in outlying areas had no way to know the uprising was proceeding.

Beating geo-restrictions in Egypt with a VPN

Those within Egypt who had a VPN were able to bypass the geo-restrictions leveled by the Morsi-led government. A VPN helped them to appear as though they were accessing restricted sites from outside the country.

Geo-restriction is accomplished via a user’s IP address. It is the most economical and simple way for Egypt to control the flow of information. There are other methods of censoring the Internet, but this type of restriction is encountered in many countries throughout the world.

In fact, there are some websites and services that are blocked as a matter of course in many nations, and some services can only be accessed by US or UK account holders. The effective solution for getting around a geo-restriction is to use a VPN that will change your IP address to reflect that you are accessing the Internet from your home country. In this way you can continue to access your local news programming and services such as Skype which allow you to remain in contact with your family at home.

What Egypt teaches us about a VPN

If there is a way to maintain unrestricted access to the Internet in Egypt, doesn’t it make sense to take advantage of it? There is no reason you should put your own personal safety at risk because you cannot access reliable news content or political blogs.

Egypt teaches us that using a VPN is becoming more important for the average citizen. There may have been a time when a VPN primarily benefitted local businessmen who wanted to remain in contact with their home office, or college students who wanted to preserve the security of their academic work, but the world today has changed. Anyone who accesses the Internet, for any reason, should take these lessons from the Egyptian uprising:

• Internet censorship can happen quickly. It doesn’t take days or weeks for a country to restrict web content. Because many countries like Egypt either own the ISP’s or strictly observe them, sites can be blocked with a minimum of effort in a short period of time.
• Internet censorship can compromise your safety. Preserving your access to services like Skype or Viber, and being able to monitor news that is not filtered by the state is vital in situations similar to what happened in Egypt.
• Internet censorship can be avoided. Using a VPN is the most sensible way to avoid restrictions like the ones imposed by Egypt. Using a VPN is easy—very little effort is required to set one up—and a VPN is also economical. The VPN we offer is affordable to everyone.

Ask yourself…

Is your personal safety in an uprising worth the cost of a VPN account? Of course it is. When traveling or working in a country like Egypt, a VPN is not a luxury. It is a necessity so get one at VPN-accounts.com