Indonesia bans DuckDuckGo – free VPN apps are the next target
Privacy is the collateral damage of authorities' fight against gambling
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Bad news for all privacy-conscious people living in or heading to Indonesia anytime soon. As authorities double down against online gambling and pornography – which are illegal in the country – online privacy becomes the collateral damage.
The private search engineDuckDuckGois the first causality. On Friday, August 2, 2024, government officialsconfirmed to Reutersthat the secure search engine had been blocked amid growing complaints of online gambling and pornography content in its search results.
Local reportsalso suggest that the government plans to cut off access tofree VPNservices as part of the national crackdown on online illegal activities.
Privacy at risk
As mentioned, DuckDuckGo is aprivacy toolthat millions of people worldwide use every day to browse anonymously and protect their privacy. Enforcing a ban on its usage means that people living or traveling to Indonesia are stripped of a valuable resource to protect their online privacy.
Access to thebest VPNapps is also at risk – and that’s a privacy nightmare waiting to happen. Avirtual private network (VPN)is security software that encrypts your internet connections and spoofs your IP address location. While both functionalities boost your anonymity online, the latter also enables you to access otherwise geo-restricted content.
This means that you might not be able to use astreaming VPNto keep watching your favorite TV shows while traveling the country. Worse still, both citizens and travelers won’t be able to bypass the internet restrictions currently in place.
Boasting the world’s largest Muslim population, Indonesia has strict rules against the sharing of online content deemed illegal or obscene. This is why, alongside gambling and pornography websites, social media platforms like Reddit and Vimeo are also blocked.
How to bypass Indonesia internet restrictions
Considering the ban against free VPNs isn’t in place at the time of writing, using a VPN remains the best way to bypass internet restrictions and keep using DuckDuckGo, Reddit, and any other services currently blocked.
After downloading your chosen app, all you need to do is connect to a server outside the country – I suggest picking one located in an area where the internet isn’t hampered by restrictions. Doing so will trick your internet service provider (ISP) into thinking you’re in the same place as the server and, as a result, grant you access.
Our favorite recommendation at the moment isNordVPN. If you’re on a limited budget, however, I suggest looking into our best cheap VPN provider –Surfshark. It comes with super easy-to-use apps and great unblocking.Proton VPNalso boasts some advanced anti-censorship technology, while offering one of the best freebies out there.
In case you’re struggling to access a VPN,Tor Browseris another free-to-use circumvention tool. Likewise a virtual private network, Tor spoofs your IP, while protecting your connection inside at least three encryption layers for extra safety.
Chiara is a multimedia journalist committed to covering stories to help promote the rights and denounce the abuses of the digital side of life—wherever cybersecurity, markets and politics tangle up.She mainly writes news, interviews and analysis on data privacy, online censorship, digital rights, cybercrime, and security software, with a special focus on VPNs, for TechRadar Pro, TechRadar and Tom’s Guide. Got a story, tip-off or something tech-interesting to say? Reach out to chiara.castro@futurenet.com
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