Wikipedia is the world’s largest online encyclopedia. Readers can find useful information about all sorts of historical events, celebrities, sports events, and geography. Unfortunately, Wikipedia is partially or completely blocked in some regions around the world.

Being one of the most famous collaborative outputs on the Internet, Wikipedia.org, which is affectionately called Wiki, supplies us with most basic information needs while giving a possibility to write an article for the service.

The problem is that many countries block access to Wikipedia for their citizens. There are several reasons for censoring the Internet from the standpoint of governments.

Total censorship is implemented to save social traditions and religion, but in most cases the situation occurs to preserve the established political regime.

In these countries Wikipedia can’t be used, irrespectibe of the device you are using. It is known that thousands of changes are made on Wikipedia per hour and if you want, you can avoid its blocking by using a good VPN service for Wikipedia.

A turning point in Wikipedia’s history came in 2015, when it decided to migrate from HTTP to HTTPS. HTTPS is the communications protocol used for payment transactions. It uses encryption to protect against “man in the middle” attacks.

The move meant that it became impossible for countries like China and Turkey to block specific Wikipedia pages. Unsurprisingly, the move was not received with open arms by every country. Governments had to choose between censoring all of Wikipedia or none of it.

The Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard recently analyzed 15 different countries with a history of censorship. The results since 2015 have been very encouraging. It was able to conclude that,

“On balance, there is less censorship happening now than before the transition to HTTPS-only content delivery in June 2015. This initial data suggests the decision to shift to HTTPS has been a good one in terms of ensuring accessibility to knowledge.” Based on the most recent reports, China and Turkey are the only countries that comprehensively censor Wikipedia.

Censorship in Turkey

On 15 July 2016, a faction of the Turkish Armed Forces devised a plan to overthrow President Erdogan. The attempt was unsuccessful, but it did succeed in making Erdogan even more paranoid than he was before. Then, at the referendum election on 16 April, Erdogan won a narrow victory and secured a position that resembles an autocrat more than a duly elected president.

Despite his sweeping powers, Erdogan knows that he and his administration are skating on thin ice. They must quash dissent if they are to avoid another coup d’état attempt.

The Erdogan machine has succeeded in blocking Wikipedia. However, there is evidence of “mirror” sites popping up from those who don’t want Turkey to become like China. For example, the Inter-Planetary File System (IPFS) is built on a peer-to-peer hosting network.

The decentralized network is tough to censor. It offers screenshots rather than dynamic versions of the content. IPFS carried out the entire effort without the help of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Censorship in China

In 2017, Reuters reported that China had boosted its censorship of films, blogs, and educational content. It plans to shut down all sites that don’t to adhere to “core socialist standards.”

As part of the process, the government-backed China Netcasting Services Association has released its new internet posting regulations. Auditors will determine whether content fits with the societal vision. The initiative covers both foreign and domestic sites.

There is no simple answer to this question. Throughout its history, China has been consistently imperialistic. It does not feel it can accomplish world dominance in a democratic state.

The Chinese government uses the internet to distribute an enormous amount of content about itself and the glory of its empire. It seeks to ban any content that is contrary to this messaging. The government goes to great lengths to avoid empowering critics of “The Party.”

It is a master at using the internet to distract the attention of the public away from the areas where it is vulnerable. It instead deflects citizens to areas where it can shine brightly.

In China today, the government encourages the distribution of content about patriotism, the glorious motherland, flattering historical material, filial piety, and generous patrons helping the poor.

You cannot distribute material related to religion, insults about China, explicit violence, sexual promiscuity, gambling, genitalia, smoking, killing endangered animals, and foul language. If you violate these rules, then the mighty sword will fall and the government will shut down your website.

How to Unblock Wikipedia Using a VPN

A virtual private network allows you to redirect all of your traffic via a secure, private server. Thus, your ISP can no longer see which websites you are visiting. This process not only allows you to bypass government censorship, but also enables you to access streaming channels and websites that would normally not be available in your region. In order to use VPNs to unblock Wikipedia or any other banned website, follow these steps.

The first thing you need to do is sign up with a VPN provider.
After you have created your VPN account, download the VPN application to your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Android device.
Then, launch the application and sign in. From within the app, connect to a VPN server.
Finally, head over to Wikipedia and freely browse any of the pages you want.

Some government have even banned VPN providers in certain regions. That is why you need to carefully choose which VPN you can use to overcome Internet censorship. Here are some VPNs that are great for unblocking Wikipedia;

1. NordVPN

Nord VPN is a great security service. Double encryption afforded by this VPN provider makes your sensitive data effectively protected while being online. More than 3300 servers in 59+ countries on all the continents, except the Antarctic, are held and the number is growing.

Features of NordVPN are:

unlimited speed and bandwidth;
SmartPlay facility to unblock streaming services worldwide;
simplest installation and user-friendly navigation;
in-built kill switch for your convenience in operation;
multiple connections up to 6 devices together;
IKEv2/IPsec protocol with AES-256- GCM encryption;
compatibility with all known operating systems;
specially developed VPN extensions for Firefox and Chrome browsers;
professional online support for NordVPN customers.

Try it and you will enjoy all the opportunities it brings. After all, NordVPN offers a period of free trial, so it is possible to try this VPN free.

2. PrivateVPN

PrivateVPN is a decent VPN provider. If you were to seriously think of the best VPN service today, you would not need to look any further than PrivateVPN. If you are unsatisfied with the services that it has to offer, you can claim all your paid money after thirty days. The reasons to use PrivateVPN:

Compatibility with various platforms such as Windows, OS X, iOS and Android.
IP addresses which are hosted by 56 server locations.
AES 2048-bit encryption and strong protocols, such as OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec and IKEv2.

3. VyprVPN

This is a VPN service offered by Golden Frog, an internet data storage provider. VyprVPN provides its subscribers with both VPN protection and CYPHR decoding of messages. VyprVPN is registered in Switzerland not by chance.

The security laws of this country reflect the position of the VPN provider towards data protection. It has over 700 servers located in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania (over 70 locations).

Features of VyprVPN:

top-notch Chameleon VPN technology for censorship bypassing;
200 000+ IPs for no restrictions while surfing the Internet;
unlimited server switching;
apps for Android, iOS, Mac, Windows devices, routers and TV;
no limits of speed or bandwidth;
extra security with NAT-Firewall;

As VyprVPN has servers in the US, you can make use of its flash-like US servers and its free shared IP addresses to access popular American shows even from outside the US.

4. ExpressVPN

As the name of this provider suggests, this VPN service offers excellent internet speed servers with 99.9% uptime guarantee. This makes ExpressVPN one of the best VPNs for everyone in terms of server speed.

Apart from tunneling speeds, ExpressVPN has a wide server network (1500+) that is located in 94+ countries. This VPN offers excellent customer support and strict no logging policy.

features of ExpressVPN are:

unlimited server switch, data and bandwidth;
the option to choose from 5 tunneling encryption protocols;
reliable 256-bit encryption;
3 devices simultaneous connection;
a 30-day money-back guarantee;
free apps for every popular OS and devices.

If you are in search of a good VPN provider, opt for ExpressVPN and surf the Internet securely.

We believe everyone has a right for free access to knowledge. Unfortunately, many countries don’t concur in the conclusion; as internet monitoring has led to blocking such websites as Wikipedia.

Fortunately, there is a way out, so while using the best VPN for Wikipedia unblocking you will have access to the data without controversy. Moreover, all your online activities and traffic will be encrypted, which is highly useful for your privacy.