Video content on YouTube is the most desirable to unlock, according to NordVPN research into what people search with the aim of unblocking.
In total, 82,7% of internet users searching how to unblock certain online services want to access YouTube, while 5,7% of all queries looking to circumvent blocks are about accessing the Google search engine itself.
“As peculiar as it sounds, people are ‘googling’ how to unblock Google. The motive is to look for and access information without the fear of punishment, especially in countries where internet censorship is part of the government’s agenda,” says Daniel Markusson, digital privacy expert at NordVPN.
The second most searched query (6,2%) was how to unblock Facebook. Instagram (1,8%), followed by Reddit (1,5%), made the top five searches on the list.
Youtube is the second most popular website as of August 2020, with 1-billion hours of content watched daily.
“Not surprisingly, some video content is not available in certain countries due to copyright or censorship. This makes people look for workarounds,” says Markusson.
Users in the US top the searches, with 7,7% of all “unblock YouTube” searches. The country is followed by India (6,5%) and Indonesia (5,3%).
“The reasons behind attempts to access blocked content on YouTube might be notably different,” Markusson says. “The high search volumes in the US are the result of students trying to bypass rules at school, where bandwidth is often blocked for YouTube.
“On the other hand, internet users from India and Indonesia are either trying to overcome geo-restrictions imposed by content creators or bypass censorship.”
Twelve years ago Indonesia blocked YouTube on all ISPs for two days. There were also attempts to filter the X category content. Since June of 2018, Malaysia, which comes fourth on the list by “unblock YouTube” search volumes, has blocked 2 484 pornography sites.
The number of attempts to reach YouTube content is the same in the UK and the Philippines. The two countries made the top five, making up 1,4% of all searches each. Interestingly, the UK is considered to have free access to the internet, while the Philippines’ internet freedom is known to be partial and censored.
Whenever a government announces an increase in surveillance, internet restrictions, or other types of constraints, people turn to privacy tools like VPN.
“NordVPN observed a huge increase in inquiries from Hong Kong once its new security law was introduced,” Markusson says. “When Turkey banned social media, the interest in VPN also increased.
“But many also use the same tools under less worrisome circumstances. VPN technology provides access to a free internet, but users should respect copyright and intellectual property rights.”