VPN usage soars in Turkey after Istanbul blast
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Yesterday was anything but a typical quiet Sunday for Turkish citizens.
Six people died and more than 80 were injured after one bomb attack (opens in new tab) which turned a busy pedestrian zone in the center of Istanbul upside down. As of 4 p.m. local time, no one has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion.
However, the strikes did not end offline Erdoğan’s government also continued to restrict citizens’ internet access.
As internet watchdog NetBlocks reported, several social media platforms were restricted, with Turkey’s communications regulator RTUK even banning national media outlets from talking about the explosion.
As always, in these cases, Turkey VPN downloads boomed in the country as people looked for a way to bypass such disruptions.
⚠️ Confirmed: Live network data shows social media platforms Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook have been restricted in #Turkey after a deadly explosion in #Taksim, Istanbul; authorities issued a broadcast ban following the incident📰 Report: https://t.co/Xww9RgoNlu pic.twitter.com/75DMsF5QLiNovember 13, 2022
What’s happening online in Turkey?
“Turkey has a long-standing policy of restricting access to social media platforms following explosions, political incidents and terror attacks,” NetBlocks wrote in its report. “However, the policy has been criticized for limiting access to support and aid and restricting press freedom in times of need.”
Many were the social media platforms affected, including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and some Telegram servers.
Turkey’s Information and Communications Technologies Authority (BTK) later confirmed that the blackout was imposed to prevent disinformation about the explosion from spreading online.
“Once again, we are seeing governments using Internet access to manipulate their citizens and control the narrative,” Sebastian Schaub, CEO of Hide.me, told TechRadar.
However, citizens now have the technical knowledge and the tools to bypass these restrictions with just a few clicks. And when the internet goes dark, the best VPN services are generally the number one software to download.
That’s because a VPN is not only a tool that encrypts data in transit to protect people’s anonymity online, but also spoofs users’ location so they can access censored sites without hassle.
For example, Hide.me confirmed that VPN usage has increased by a whopping 500% in the last 24 hours. While data comes from Top10VPN’s tracker (opens in new tab) shows an overall increase of more than 850% more downloads.
After 10 long hours, access to social media services has now been restored.
What is certain is that Turkish users will keep their circumvention tool ready to use should the authorities decide to disrupt their internet access again.