Facebook VPN: Enjoy Internet Freedom

Basically, it all comes down to these three main reasons. Of course, when it comes to Facebook, VPN services can be used for other reasons too, but we’ll be discussing them further in the article.

1. Governments Censor and/or Block Facebook

Even though Facebook is available worldwide, and doesn’t impose any geo-restrictions, that doesn’t mean government-enforced firewalls won’t get in the way. Unfortunately, many countries around the world have either blocked access to Facebook for good, or have temporarily prevented their citizens from accessing the platform.

Here are some of the most popular examples:

• China – The country already blocks dozens of websites, and Facebook has been targeted by the government since 2009. While there have been some reports about people in China managing to access the platform, there’s a big chance you often won’t be able to do it.
• North Korea – Since North Korea runs its own intranet, and refuses to be part of the world-wide web, it’s safe to assume Facebook doesn’t run in the country. The country even has its own version of Facebook. There’s a chance that you might get to connect to Facebook as a tourist at a hotel, but that’s mostly speculation.
• Iran – Like China, Iran has blocked access to Facebook back in 2009. While some people in the country claim to be able to use the platform, there’s not a lot of evidence to back that up.
• Egypt – The country already blocked Facebook back in 2011, and they did the same thing again in 2016. Basically, there’s no telling when the government will decide to ban the website again, and for how long the ban will last.
• Russia – The Russian government has blocked Facebook content (like a political page) before, and might actually start blocking Facebook altogether very soon if they don’t comply with the country’s new data storage regulations – rules that would normally violate the privacy of Facebook users in Russia.
• Malaysia – There have been reports that the country blocked access to Facebook back in 2011, and the government also threatened to ban the platform in 2014. Not much came of that in the end, though there’s no way of telling whether or not the authorities will ban the website all of a sudden.
• Bangladesh – Allegedly, there have been short periods of time when Facebook was blocked in Bangladesh in previous years. While there’s not much evidence to back up those claims, the fact that the government considered the idea of blocking Facebook six hours per day doesn’t really help.
• Pakistan – Pakistan has blocked access to Facebook before, and they also did it pretty recently – back in 2017, to be exact. Most of the time, the website is blocked due to religious and political scandals.
• Sri Lanka – The Sri Lankan government has blocked access to Facebook (and other websites) before. While the reason is admirable (preventing misinformation from terrorists from spreading), many people in the country were distraught that they could no longer talk with their friends, family, and work colleagues.
• Vietnam – The authorities have blocked access to Facebook for two weeks back in 2016, and might do so again in the future if the social media giant will refuse to follow the country’s data storage regulations. Not to mention the government claimed the platform already violated some of its cybersecurity laws.

Other countries where Facebook and Facebook content has been blocked or limited to a certain extent include Austria, Germany, the UK, France, Israel, India, Turkey, Thailand, and Morocco.

So, the idea is pretty clear: If you live in one of those countries, or plan to visit them, there’s a good chance you won’t have access to Facebook. Even if it’s only for a few hours or a day or two, it’s still a violation of your Internet rights.

2. Facebook Can Be Blocked at School or Work

Unfortunately, network administrators can block Facebook on your school or work’s network. Usually, they do that because school/work policies require it – mostly to make sure you don’t “slack off” during work/school hours.

Of course, that’s hardly fair for you. After all, who’s to say you can’t spend your breaks talking with your best friend or significant other on Facebook?

3. Page Restrictions Can Get in the Way

Yes, we already said that Facebook itself doesn’t use geo-blocks. However, it does allow its own users to enforce them. Basically, if you run a page, you can actually add specific countries to a Restricted List, meaning anyone from those places won’t be able to see your content.

It’s worth mentioning that it’s not fully understood if these restrictions rely on users’ IP addresses to function, or if they just take the location the users set on their profiles into consideration. Still, if you notice you can’t see Facebook pages that work for people from other countries, a VPN can help you access them.

Well, you could definitely use one, but it really might not be worth it. Why? Because free VPNs don’t offer reliable services. They can’t really afford to, after all.

The main problem you’ll be dealing with will be overcrowded servers with low speeds and annoying bandwidth limitations. Besides that, the connections you’ll get will likely not be very stable, so your access to Facebook will drop randomly. And if any of that happens, you can forget about reaching out to customer support – free VPNs don’t normally offer that.

Plus, here’s something else you should consider: A free VPN can always sell your bandwidth (making your device become part of a botnet), expose you to tons of ads and malware, and sell all the data you provide them with to third-party advertisers. They need to make money somehow, right?

Yes, there are quite a few reasons, in fact. Even if you live in a country where you don’t need to worry about your access to Facebook being restricted, or if you can freely use the platform at work or school, it’s still a good idea to use a VPN for Facebook every time you access it. Here’s why:

• With a VPN, Facebook users don’t need to worry about cybercriminals seeing what you do on Facebook whenever you use public WiFi. Don’t forget – most public networks are unsecured, and can easily be exploited by hackers.
• VPNs can use high-end encryption to offer you better privacy when using Facebook. We’re not saying Facebook spies on the contents of your messages, but getting ad suggestions about things you just discussed with your friend does raise some questions, doesn’t it?
• If you use a VPN, you no longer have to worry about your ISP throttling your bandwidth, basically forcing you to deal with slow speeds if you spend “too much data” using Facebook, with the only alternative being a pricey upgrade to a “better” subscription or data plan. After all, since a VPN encrypts all your traffic, your ISP can no longer see what you do online – and they can no longer sell that information to advertisers.

Yes, you can since a proxy server intercepts your connection requests to Facebook’s website, and changes your IP address with the server’s own address. So, you can bypass firewalls that way with ease. Still, you should know that proxies don’t offer the same level of security like VPNs do, and proxy servers can often get overcrowded, resulting in slow speeds.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that a proxy server might not give you access to the Facebook mobile applications. That’s because proxy services are normally designed just to unblock websites, not apps. Of course, that’s not set in stone, and you might be successful. Just keep in mind that there’s a big chance it won’t work if you need to unblock Facebook apps.

Overall, your best bet is to use a VPN provider that offers both VPN and proxy services. That way, you can try both options, and see which one works best for you. And if one of them fails for any reason, you’ll at least have a backup plan to rely on.