If the Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, has his way social networking sites might soon be banned in Turkey. As reported by The Guardian last Friday, the Prime Minister is threatening to block social sites like Facebook and YouTube after the upcoming elections because his political enemies are using them to spread lies about him. It sounds like he’s getting pretty desperate.
We won’t debate whether or not a democratically elected official should wield that kind of power. It’s clear that governments around the world are happy to take actions that are against their citizens best interests. In this case Mr. Erdogan is threatened by recordings that reveal corruption. Of course he denies the allegations and says that the audio recordings were fabricated.
Regardless of whether the recordings released on YouTube are legitimate or fabricated, the threat to block Facebook and YouTube is very real. The Turkish people will want to consider the possible upcoming actions of the Prime Minister before they vote. If he wins the election you can expect the Turkish telecommunications authority (TIB) to block more sites.
Let’s assume for a moment that Tayyip Erdogan wins the election and follows through on his threat to ban Facebook and YouTube. If that happens Turkish Internet users still have the option of using a VPN to unlock those sites and others blocked by the TIB. IPVanish launched a Turkish website last week to help those looking to protect their online privacy in Turkey.
If you live or plan to spend time traveling in Turkey I suggest you use a reputable VPN service anytime you’re online. It will help protect you from the prying eyes of the government and others. It will also help you access site like YouTube and Facebook. You can connect to VPN servers around the world to enjoy news, BBC coverage and streaming services like Netflix and Pandora.
Here’s a quick review of IPVanish for those interested in VPN:
IPVanish is hands down my favorite VPN service. Their mix of speed and value keeps them at the top of the list. You’ll find their network to be the fastest throughout North America, several locations in Europe and beyond. IPVanish is a tier-1 provider meaning they manage their own network. That gives them a cost advantage over other companies along with excellent performance and reliability.
As you can see IPVanish manages a large network of VPN servers around the world with great performance. You wouldn’t believe just how much Netflix my family can watch in a month. Not to mention gaming and other online activities. For us performance is key and IPVanish delivers.
I won’t even consider a VPN for the list if they don’t offer easy to use client software. IPVanish leads the way with clients for Windows, Mac and Linux. They also developed mobile apps for both iOS and Android. Members have access to all the clients along with two simultaneous connections.
When it comes to value IPVanish is hard to beat. They offer unlimited, full access to their VPN network for $10 a month or $77.99 a year. That works out to just $6.49 a month on the annual plan. Members are covered by a 7 day money back guarantee which is plenty of time to test the service.
