VPNs To The Rescue As Twitter Ban Takes Effect In Nigeria

Nigerians have turned to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) following the ban of Twitter operations in the country by the Federal Government.

On Friday, Nigeria suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in the country.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement issued in Abuja.

He cited the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

Following the directive by the FG, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) blocked Nigerians from accessing the platform.

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In its statement, ALTON said: “We, the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) wish to confirm that our members have received formal instructions from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry regulator to suspend access to Twitter.”

However, despite the ban, individuals, media organisations have continued to tweet with the help of VPNs.

Restrictions by ISPs… Source: Netblocks

What is VPN and how does it work?

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) gives online privacy and anonymity by creating a private network from a public internet connection.

In addition, VPNs also help to hide online identities.

It does this by hiding the IP address as it allows the network to redirect it through a specially configured remote server run by a VPN host.

This means that if you browse with a VPN, the VPN server becomes the source of your data.

VPNs help to disguise a user’s whereabout because its (VPN) servers essentially act as proxies on the internet.

With VPN location spoofing, you can switch to a server of another country and effectively “change” your location to access websites or services restricted by a region or country.

List of free VPNs to help access Twitter in Nigeria

Below are some of the free VPNs to access Twitter in Nigeria following the ban by FG:

• Tunnerbear
• Hotspot Shield
• ProtonVPN
• Windscribe
• Speedify