Trump-Zelensky Clash

Many Social Media Sites Banned in Russia

VPN became a headache for Putin, 4 lakh people are downloading every day

 

Amidst the ongoing war with Ukraine, Putin has banned social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many other sites in his country. Many other websites like Netflix, Tiktok have stopped working in Russia. But Russian citizens have thwarted all of Putin's sanctions. Russians are now using all these ban platforms by taking a different route, which has become a headache for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Now you must be thinking that how can this happen? So the answer is that this is happening through VPN. More than 4 lakh Russian people are downloading it every day.

What is VPN?

The full form of VPN is Virtual Private Network. It started in 1996. It is claimed that it was started by Microsoft employee Gurdeep Singh Pal. This is a tool that helps you create a private network.

Think of it as if you are using any broadband like Jio, Airtel, BSNL, with VPN you create your private network. Private network means that you are connected to a limited number of people or through your home network connection.

That is, if you search for something on the Internet with the help of this, then none of its data is stored with the government or monitoring organization, operator of that country. The main function of a VPN is to keep network traffic encrypted. That is, the IP address (Internet Protocol) with which you search hides that address and location, no one can track it. Changes the location and IP address. That is, it disappears.

Suppose you are using the network of a broadband company like Jio, Airtel, then that Internet service provider ie ISP knows everything that what you are searching for? Which website are you viewing? What are you downloading? Not only this, the service company also has your online history. With the help of this, they show you related ads from search history. But, when you use a VPN, it can make your IP address disappear. This way no one can track you. You can download it from any app store or from Google.

What are the plans of the VPN Putin is sabotaging?

As soon as the war with Ukraine started, he had banned many social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and news websites, so that the information related to the war should not reach Russian citizens and Putin should reach the news to the citizens as per his wish.

Russian citizens are protesting against their own government in the midst of the Ukraine war. This is the reason why Putin's eyes are on online content, what is reaching the common people? What are Russian citizens looking for? Putin is now pressuring Google to remove Google VPN from the list so that people of his country cannot use it.

The Putin government is asking its citizens to use Russian social platforms. This includes social networks like Russia's VK, Odnoklassniki ie OK. Russia wants its citizens to use these platforms so that they can be monitored.

What is the new law of Russia?

For strictness, on March 5, the Putin government made a law. According to this, Russian people cannot spread alleged fake news, which talks about Russian attack or war. The action of the Russian army is to be called a special military operation. Violators can be jailed for up to 15 years.

The number of VPN users in Russia has increased by more than 3500%

After the ban of many platforms, now Russian citizens are using VPN indiscriminately. More than 4 lakh people download it everyday. Since February 15, the number of VPN users has increased by more than 3500%. That is, VPN has broken into Putin's strict online censorship.

In such a situation, Russia may have banned sites like YouTube, Facebook, but people there are accessing these platforms by changing the location of the IP address through VPN. There have been many times when the government of a country has imposed various restrictions to monitor its citizens and people have broken it. VPN is also the same. Its users and market value are continuously increasing.

How many VPN users are there in India?

According to global VPN provider AtlasVPN, by August 2021, 350 million people installed VPN in India. The number of VPN users increased by 671% in 2021 as compared to 2020. Worldwide, most people from Qatar, UAE and Singapore use VPN.

Many sites are banned in India too. In September 2020, the central government banned more than 100 apps including the gaming app Pubg. After this Indian users started using these restricted apps through VPN.

 What protection does a VPN provide when connecting to public Wi-Fi?

Your privacy is at risk if you use public Wi-Fi in railway stations, cyber cafes, coffee shops, restaurants, hotels etc. Hackers can access your data using these public Wi-Fi. Malware tracks the location with the help of viruses and even steals passwords. Public Wi-Fi is the biggest weapon for cyber attackers.

VPN gives you protection against these threats. It acts like a layer. Which hides your IP address, network traffic sources and Internet browsing sessions. This makes it difficult for hackers to access your data.

 

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