Earlier this week, Brazil blocked popular mobile messaging service WhatsApp following a row over accessing the encrypted data. It affected roughly 100 million users in the country. Though the ban was lifted after 24 hours, it prompted users to look for ways to unblock WhatsApp. What if the country blocks it again? Even if you don’t live in Brazil, you might want to know how to unblock it after your government has banned WhatsApp.
Use this tool to unblock WhatsApp
Fortunately, there is a VPN that can let you unblock region-locked content. Back in 2011, Egyptians had used the same app to access censored information when their government had curtailed Internet communications during the revolution. Brazilians were smart enough to find and use the same tool to unblock WhatsApp. Hotspot Shield provided by AnchorFree not only lets you unblock WhatsApp but also access censored content.
Many users in countries like China and Tunisia use the Hotspot Shield to overcome censorship and maintain their anonymity while using the Internet. AnchorFree offers a free version of Hotspot Shield for Chrome and free ad-supported versions for Mac, PC, iOS and Android devices. Users can also buy the Elite version for $30 per year. Hotspot Shield witnessed a whopping 28,728% surge in installs on iOS and 17,187% growth on Android in Brazil just hours after the country blocked WhatsApp.
It was not intended to be an anti-censorship tool
Hotspot Shield was never intended to be an anti-censorship tool. It was created as a privacy tool to keep people secure from hackers and maintain their anonymity, said AnchorFree CEO David Gorodyansky. But in times like these, people haven’t hesitated from using it to maintain free speech. The tool can be downloaded using this link.
Hotspot Shield works by establishing a secure tunnel between your device and the Internet connection. It encrypts all your web sessions to keep your online activity secure. Americans and Europeans mostly use it to secure their browsing while on WiFi networks. But the tool has increasingly become popular in countries with censorship.
