8 Ways to Access Blocked Websites in 2021

Browsing

Browsing

We are living in an internet-focused world. 

People work online, we shop online and we use social media almost every day. However, not all websites that we want to visit fit into the geopolitics of our countries or organizations. 

Today many governments and organizations are blocking websites and censuring contents from certain websites that do not fit their geopolitical realities. 

TikTok

TikTok

For example, the Indian government has banned the immensely popular Tik Tok website alongside many other Chinese applications due to what it terms as the threats that these websites and applications pose to the country. 

Related: How much will I pay to import goods from China to the USA?

The Chinese government for a very long time has banned many American websites such as Facebook and even Google search engines among many others. 

Facebook CEO

Facebook CEO

The United States has threatened to ban Tik Tok and several other Chinese websites too due to what it believes to be a threat to the privacy of its citizens. 

Furthermore many countries that have experienced civil unrest in the recent past such as Belarus has restricted social media temporarily to end the upheavals. 

However, just because you live in a country where a certain website you want to visit has been blocked does not mean that you can’t access the website. 

There are a number of ways you can still use to access blocked websites in your country

Some of the best methods to use include the following:

  • Use a VPN

How VPN Works

How VPN Works

A VPN is simply a Virtual Private Network. It is a software that hides your IP address. 

This way you can access any website blocked by your government because traffic from your computer passed through the VPN server which assigns it a foreign IP address. 

VPN

VPN

Check the list of best VPNs for your iPhone.

Using a strong and reliable VPN can guarantee you access to any website. Besides that, VPN helps provide privacy and security while browsing online. 

This is because when your IP address hidden, you can remain anonymous online and this will keep you secure from targeted attacks.  In addition, all traffic has to pass through the VPN where all random attacks are detected and neutralized. 

Related: How to protect your privacy using a VPN

Some of the best VPN you can use include:

  • Express VPN
  • Nord VPN
  • Private Internet Access VPN
  • Use Proxy Websites

Using a Proxy Website is another popular method you can use to access a blocked website.  What this does is allow you to access a blocked website by visiting a completely different website.  

There are hundreds of websites online that camouflage certain websites that are often blocked to allow users to access those websites even when blocked. 

Related: FirstRowSports Proxy & Mirror Sites List FirstRowSports

China and many organizations have blocked social media sites such as Facebook.  This is why there are a number of proxy websites that make it easy for users to access Facebook without visiting the official Facebook website. 

It is important to remember that while proxy websites make it easy for you to access blocked websites, they are not secure compared to a VPN.  They only allow you to bypass website access restrictions by visiting a different website. This means that you need to use an antivirus to be safe. 

  • Use an IP Address in place of a URL

When we search online what we are simply searching is the URL of the sites we want. For this reason, many governments and organizations that block websites do so by restricting URL access. This leaves a loophole you can exploit to access a blocked website. 

Each website on the internet has two identifying features: an IP address and a URL.  When the URL is blocked you can still search and access the website by using the IP address. 

  • Use Google Translate

Most countries and organizations that ban websites rarely ban Google Translate.  This is because Google Translate is a popular educational tool. 

But you can use Google Translate to access a banned website. All you have to do is translate the website to a different language using the tool.  This may be hard if you are not bilingual but it works well. 

To do this simply open Google translate on your browser. Then type in the translate box the URL of the site you want to access and then click translate.  Now simply open the translated site. 

  • Use Extensions

Today there are browser extensions for almost anything. It therefore should not come as a surprise that we have some extensions that can help you access blocked websites. 

The advantage of using extensions is that they offer you the best option when it comes to accessing dynamic websites such as social media sites and media channels.  Some of the extensions are powerful and can pass through the strongest of firewalls. Some of the best extensions you can use here include ProxMate and Hola for Google Chrome browser and UltraSurf for Mozilla Firefox users.  With these browser extensions, you can access any blocked website from anywhere in the world. The key is that you need fast internet connectivity. 

  • Custom your DNS Server

Another way to access blocked websites is to use smart DNS such as OpenDNS or Google DNS. A Domain Name System (DNS) is simply a system for converting domain names to IP addresses.

This makes it easy to search for words like Tik Tok without having to memorize the whole IP address which usually is made up of numbers. 

 IP addresses on the internet are traced to their country of origin. This makes it easy for companies and governments to block them. When you use a smart DNS it directs your search to a proxy server when searching for the particular IP address from the domain name you searched. 

Since the proxy servers can be located anywhere in the world it becomes easy to access banned websites as your search won’t show your IP address. 

  • Use RSS Feed of website

RSS feeds are quite popular among internet users. They make it easy for internet users to access and read fresh content from websites. If you have access to a blocked website’s RSS feed you can easily access the blocked websites by loading the feed on your reader. The RSS reader will on its part load the whole WebPages allowing you to access the blocked websites. 

Some websites do not have an RSS feed. In such a case all you have to do is search a program online that creates RSS feed for websites. Insert the IP address of the blocked website to create RSS feeds and then once you get it use it to access the blocked website. Remember this method works best for sites that are less dynamic in nature and may not work best for dynamic ones such as social media or search engines.

  • Use the Onion Router (TOR)

If you love your privacy then this is an awesome option.TOR is an awesome browser that comes with an inbuilt VPN. This allows you to access any website on the internet anonymously.  This capability allows you to access any blocked website on the internet. This is particularly because your query does not return your actual IP address. This not only unblocks websites but adds a layer of security to your activities online. 

Conclusion

Many organizations and governments are concerned about how certain websites will influence their people. 

This is why from time to time they block websites they deem as threats. This is not something that will end in the near future. 

We can expect more websites to be blocked. If you want to access a blocked website then you need not worry. 

Privacy

Privacy

The methods described in this article work well, VPN service is usually more common as a universal solution.

But you need to be on the lookout as new technologies develop and new ways of blocking websites are revealed.