c/banned-beyond-borders

I found out a news site I read for years was blocked in Turkey

I was trying to share an article from a site I use with a friend in Istanbul last week, and he said he couldn't open it. He told me the entire domain has been banned there by the government for over a year. I had no idea, because I could read it just fine from Ohio. It made me realize how much I take for granted, and how my view of 'free' information is totally shaped by where I live. Has anyone else had a moment like this, where you realized a normal website for you is completely off limits somewhere else?

Just realized my old method for sharing news links is completely blocked now in some places.

I used to post them directly, but after the 2021 internet laws in Myanmar, I have to use a secure messaging app to send them privately. Has anyone else found a reliable workaround for this?

Saw a book pulled from a store shelf in Singapore last month

I was in a Kinokuniya bookstore in Singapore and watched a staff member take down a whole display for a political history book. They said it was on a government list for 'objectionable content' and they had to remove it within 24 hours. It was a book about a neighboring country's elections that you can buy anywhere else. Makes you think about how easy it is for a government to just erase information. Has anyone run into something like this while traveling?

I looked up how two countries handle VPNs and the difference is huge

I was reading about internet rules in Russia versus Singapore. In Russia, they block a ton of sites and try to stop people from using VPNs to get around it. Singapore has some blocks too, but they mostly just block a few specific things like porn sites and don't really go after VPN users. The difference is that in Russia, the whole approach is about controlling what people see, which makes free speech a lot harder. In Singapore, you can still talk about most things online, even if you disagree with the government. It made me see how the way a country tries to enforce a ban can be more important than the ban itself. Has anyone else found examples where the enforcement method was the real problem?

TIL a book I read in college is banned in some Florida schools now

I was skeptical about the censorship reports until I saw the official district list from last month, which convinced me this is a real and growing problem for free speech everywhere, so has anyone else had a favorite book suddenly become 'controversial'?

Shoutout to a documentary that showed me how many books are banned in US schools now

I found a list from PEN America showing over 3,000 book bans in the last school year, which changed my view that this was just a few local issues. Anyone have a good source for tracking similar censorship in other places?

Back in 2015, I donated $200 to a site hosting banned political cartoons from Russia.

The site got taken down a year later, and the organizers vanished with all the funds. It was a hard lesson that supporting free speech in other places can be a real gamble. Has anyone else lost money trying to back a banned publication that just disappeared?

My buddy from college in Australia told me their 'hate speech' laws would stop online fights. I thought he was nuts.

We were talking about a big online fight over a political cartoon, and he said their laws meant you could get fined for posting stuff that might offend a group. I told him that was just a way to shut people up and that free speech means dealing with ugly opinions. He said it actually made discussions calmer because people had to think before they posted. I didn't buy it, thinking it was just government overreach. But after seeing how some of our own online spaces have turned into pure rage zones where no real talk happens, I'm starting to see his point. It's a tough spot, because I still don't like the idea of a government deciding what's too offensive. Has anyone else had a chat with someone from a country with really strict speech rules that made you rethink things?

My cousin in Singapore said he couldn't even share a news article about a local protest on his social feed because the link was blocked.

It wasn't even a call to action, just a report from a small outlet, and it made me realize how a ban in one place can make you scared to even talk about it anywhere else, so what's a story you've heard that got silenced before it could spread?

Talking to my cousin in Singapore about a book I sent him

I mailed him a copy of a novel I loved, 'The Satanic Verses'. He called me last night and said he had to hide it because it's completely illegal there. He told me, 'If they find this, it's not just a fine, it's real trouble.' It hit different because we grew up sharing books. Makes you wonder how many stories just stop at a border. Anyone else had a simple gift turn into a weird lesson like that?

Just found out my VPN trick for watching a show from Tokyo isn't actually legal there

I've been using a VPN to watch a specific anime that's blocked in my country for the last six months, thinking it was just a copyright thing. A friend who lives in Osaka told me the show's creators actually asked for the ban over a political subplot they didn't like. Has anyone else had a moment where bypassing a block felt okay until you learned the real reason behind it?

I used to read a whole news site from a country I won't name. Over the last 18 months, the articles just stopped mentioning certain people. It's like they vanished from the story.

Tbh, seeing a news site get blocked in Turkey last month made me look into VPNs

I was trying to read about the local elections from a hotel in Ankara, and the whole page just went blank. Honestly, it took me 30 minutes to find a decent VPN that actually worked there. Has anyone else had to do this just to get basic info while traveling?

Update: My friend in Singapore tried to send me a meme about their government last week

It was just a silly cartoon, but their messaging app blocked it instantly. We had to switch to a different app just to share a joke. Has anyone else had a normal chat get weirdly censored like that?

Just realized my cousin in Singapore can't even watch a documentary about climate protests...

Got a copy of 'Maus' from a friend in Canada after my local school board pulled it

Reading the actual book versus just hearing the news stories about it being banned was a huge difference. The graphic novel's honest look at the Holocaust hit way harder than any sanitized summary could. Anyone else find that getting your hands on a banned book changes the whole conversation?

Question about a history project I did in high school versus what my nephew can do now

Back in 2008, for a project on the Vietnam War, I could use any book from our library, even ones with graphic photos. My nephew, in the same district, just told me his class can't use a specific soldier's memoir because some parents complained about the language. It's the same book I used. We compared our project guidelines side by side, and his list of approved sources is half as long as mine was. It feels like the goal shifted from learning hard truths to avoiding any discomfort. Has anyone else seen school materials get quietly restricted like this over the last ten years?

Can we talk about the $80 I spent on a VPN after my friend in Hong Kong got blocked from our group chat?

It was the only way he could keep talking to us after they started filtering certain apps. Has anyone found a cheaper service that still works in places with heavy internet control?

My friend in Turkey got his account locked for sharing a news link

Last week, my friend in Istanbul tried to send me a link to a local news story about a protest. His social media account got locked for 24 hours because the platform said it broke their rules on 'harmful content'. The story was from a small paper there, nothing violent, just people talking. It made me think about how a rule made for one place can stop people everywhere from sharing info. Have you seen other cases where a country's ban changed what you could post online?

Vent: I just found out a book I read in high school is illegal in Turkey

I was looking up old school stuff online last night and saw a list of banned books from different places. The book 'The Satanic Verses' by Salman Rushdie is banned in Turkey, and has been since 1989. I read it for a class project back then and just thought it was a weird story. Seeing it on that list made me realize how a whole country's government can decide what ideas people are allowed to see. Has anyone else found out something normal from their past is banned somewhere else?

I finally got a letter from my cousin in Hong Kong after 6 months of silence.

He said his group chat got shut down for sharing a news link about a local protest, something we'd talk about freely here. It made me realize how a ban over there can make you scared to even send a basic email here, you know? Has anyone else had a normal chat with someone abroad suddenly go quiet because of what they can't say?

Bought a VPN to watch a show, got my account locked instead

I paid $80 for a year of a VPN service to watch a show that's blocked in my country. The streaming site flagged my account for 'suspicious activity' and locked me out. Now I'm out the VPN money and can't access my paid streaming account either. Where do we draw the line between companies protecting their rights and just punishing paying customers?

My friend in Singapore sent me a picture of a blank page in his history book

We were talking online about a protest that happened here in the US, and he said he'd never heard of it. He sent a photo of his old school textbook, and a whole section about a similar event in his country was just blacked out with marker. That was Tuesday morning. It hit me that his whole view of the world is shaped by what someone else decided he shouldn't see. I spent the next two days looking up what was under those marks, and it's stuff every citizen should know. It makes me wonder what we aren't being told here, just in quieter ways. Has anyone else had a friend from a different country show them something that was just... missing?

Just realized I was wrong for thinking a VPN was just for streaming shows from other countries.

I was trying to read a news article my friend in Singapore linked me, and it was blocked, which made me finally get that these tools are about way more than watching TV and actually let people see stuff their governments don't want them to, which is a big deal for free speech everywhere.

Vent: My cousin said I was overreacting about a book being pulled from our local library

He told me it was just one book, and that libraries weed out old stuff all the time. This was different. They removed a graphic novel about a protest in Hong Kong because a parent group said it was 'divisive.' I checked, and that same book is banned in several countries. I argued with him that it sets a bad example, but he just shrugged. Now I see the same group is looking at other books about protests. It feels like a small step here that copies bigger problems elsewhere. Has anyone else seen a local ban that seemed to follow a pattern from another country?