Saudi Arabia is quite notorious for its censorship on all kinds of media, including the Internet. For instance, anyone who writes news online has to have a special license from the government, otherwise they are operating on an illegal basis.
Political, sexual, and religious content is all filtered extensively, which means that residents in Saudi Arabia only get a version of the Internet that is deemed acceptable by the government. Everything else is essentially filtered and then blocked.
In fact, the censorship and filtering has been so consistent that the administration in Saudi Arabia had even blocked all types of Internet calling, which means that no one there had access to apps like Skype. This ban was lifted in September 2017 but the censorship remains.
I want to visit Saudi Arabia. What does restricted Internet access mean, exactly?
While you are in the country, every website that you visit will basically be put through a content filter monitored by the Saudi Arabian government. If a website you attempt to visit is one of the lists maintained by the Saudi government, it will simply be blocked.
In essence, the government argues that there is a whole world of content out there that is completely immoral and that society should be protected. On top of that the government also blocks other types of websites, including those who are critical of its administration.
The punishment for attempting to circumvent such restrictions, and especially if you are vocal and public about it, is very likely to be a fine or imprisonment.
If you are planning on travelling to Saudi Arabia, you should be very aware of these rules. Posting anything on social media that goes against these rules is very likely to get you in trouble, for example.
What you can do is use a VPN to bypass all of these restrictions and surf internet anonymously
In fact, this is pretty much the only recourse you have against the restrictions set by the government. Without using a VPN, you cannot bypass the filter and you will only be able to visit the websites the government allows you to.
Even then, everything you do online will be carefully monitored. And if someone in law enforcement believes that you are trying to propagate immoral content or access things that you shouldn’t be, you might get into trouble.
By using a VPN, you can bypass the internet restrictions in Saudi Arabia and visit any website that you want. While some VPNs might keep logs, it is very unlikely that they would give them over to the Saudi government.
In case you are still confused about the exact process you should follow, head over to the next section.
How to unblock websites in Saudi Arabia
- Subscribe to one of the best VPNs from our list.
- Download and Install the VPN client in one of your devices.
- Choose a server in another location such as the USA or the UK.
- Unblock and visit whatever websites you want in Saudi Arabia.
It’s really pretty simple. Though you should still be careful while using a VPN, such a service will allow you to see much more of the Internet than ever before.
How should I choose the best VPN for Saudi Arabia?
What you have to understand is that you will never be completely anonymous online just by using a VPN. Your internet surfing will be encrypted which will make your online identity more secure but you should still be wary of what you are doing.
We would recommend that you use one of the best VPNs for Saudi Arabia from the table below as we have reviewed them in-depth and found them to be excellent choices.
- Provider
- User Rating
- Price
NordVPN- 14827 Votes
- $3.29 / month
PureVPN- 7715 Votes
- $3.24 / month
ExpressVPN- 6930 Votes
- $6.67 /mo
NordVPN
NordVPN is our number one VPN choice to use in Saudi Arabia due to the sheer number of servers that the service provides.
Though NordVPN only gives access to 60 countries, they do have more than 5400 servers. It also supports Bitcoin payments and keeps no logs whatsoever so it’s a great choice for anonymous web browsing.
PureVPN
Our second choice is one of the most popular VPN providers worldwide and they are constantly renewing their IP address to bypass government blocks.
With more than 6500 servers spread across 78 countries, PureVPN is one of the most accessible services in the world. In addition to that, you will be able to connect up to 10 devices at the same time while PureVPN will keep no logs of your Internet traffic.
ExpressVPN
For our third choice we have ExpressVPN, a VPN provider that will always try to keep you as secure and anonymous as possible.
As one of the best VPN providers in the world, ExpressVPN has a strong footing in the industry with more than 3.000 servers located in 94 countries. This provider also has a no-log policy and even includes a kill switch so that you can always stay protected.
Can I just use a free VPN in Saudi Arabia instead?
Not unless you don’t value your freedom and online security! Using a free vpn in Saudi Arabia is very bad idea. First of all they are very slow and so very bad for streaming. On top of that, they are not as well-protected as proper paid VPNs. They also keep logs of your online activity, which is definitely not something you want when dealing with the Saudi government.
If you have any comments, questions, or concerns about using VPNs in Saudi Arabia, let us know!
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