How do restrictions on internet access affect you?

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I cover international relations with a focus on Switzerland, lead journalistic investigations, and conduct deeply personal interviews on challenging topics. Over 25 years in journalism. Graduated from Moscow State University's Faculty of Journalism and the French Press Institute in Paris. Former TV/radio host in France and Russia. I am a published author and documentary filmmaker who has interviewed presidents and rock stars.

Deutsch

Wie frei können Sie sich im Internet bewegen?
Français

En quoi les restrictions d’accès à Internet vous affectent-elles?
Italiano

Come vi influenzano le restrizioni all’accesso a internet?
Español

¿De qué manera le afectan las restricciones de acceso a Internet?
Português

Como as restrições de acesso à Internet afetam você?
日本語

【体験談募集】政府によるネット検閲やアクセス制限、どんな影響がある？
العربية

كيف تؤثّر القيود المفروضة على الوصول إلى الإنترنت عليك؟
中文

限制互联网访问给您带来哪些直观影响？
Русский

Насколько свободно вы можете пользоваться интернетом?

Internet shutdowns and blackouts can disrupt daily life, threaten safety, skew elections and damage economies.

Today, major restrictions are imposed External linkfor example in China, where Google, Facebook and other social media platforms are blocked; in Iran, which cut access and banned social media during the Iran-Israel war in 2025; and in Russia, where authorities tightened controls on sites and virtual private networks (VPNs) which mask an IP address after the invasion of Ukraine.

On August 13, Roskomnadzor, the state media regulator, restricted calls on WhatsApp and Telegram, calling them “main voice services used to deceive and extort money, and to involve Russian citizens in sabotage and terrorist activities”

Foreign Affairs

Behind Russia’s digital Iron Curtain: how the West and Switzerland look online

This content was published on Aug 29, 2025 We demonstrate how Russia’s digital Iron Curtain works with and without a VPN. [Spoiler: Swissinfo’s website doesn’t load in the country without one.]

Freedom House estimated in 2022 that in 76% of countries worldwide, individuals were arrested or imprisoned for what they posted online.

Have you faced bans, blocks or shutdowns? How did it affect you? Share your story in the comments below.

Edited by Virginie Mangin

marco leist 2025-11-23 05:50

The following contribution has been automatically translated from DE.

censorship is manipulative. not only switching off is manipulative.____ there is also censorship in switzerland - subtle censorship by service providers. what most people don't want to admit .... google. most people firmly believe that google simply scans the internet and delivers a list that matches the question.____ beautiful dreaming. google censors us, is a master at withholding the technically correct answer. you get the answer that makes the most money for google. money rules the world.____ however, it is not the bad guys who censor us. the bad guys are those who allow it - who look the other way.____instead, we look outwards and point to states that censor. russia, for example - a nation that threw its demoratic possibilities overboard after the collapse of the soviet union (1985) and made a dictator great. the article is very narrowly focussed - consciously or unconsciously - censoring. a pity.

zensur ist manipulierend. manipulierend wirkt nicht nur abschalten.____auch in der schweiz gibt es zensur - eine subtile zensur von dienstleistern. was die meisten nicht wahrhaben wollen .... google. die meisten glauben fest daran, dass google einfach nur das internet durchrast und zur frage passende liste liefert.____schön geträumt. google zensiert uns, ist meister im vorenthalten der technisch richtigen antwort. man erhält die antwort, die für google am meisten geld bringt. geld regiert die welt.____es sind aber nicht die bösen, die uns zensurieren. die bösen sind diejenigen, die es zulassen - wegschauen.____stattdessen schauen wir nach aussen und zeigen auf staaten, die zensurieren. russland beispielsweise - ein volk, das seine demoratischen möglichkeiten nach dem zusammenbruch der sowjetunion (1985) über bord geworfen hat und einen diktatoren gross gemacht hat. der artikel ist sehr eng fokussierend - bewusst oder unbewusst - zensurierend. schade.

avanturismo@gmail.com 2025-10-06 13:39

The following contribution has been automatically translated from PT.

Brazil is a farce. It's impressive to see those who still believe in this "green" discourse coming from a government marked by corruption, while the country continues to be mired in open sewage, abusive taxes and structural incompetence. It's sad to watch the narrative manipulation of a state that talks about sustainability, but lives off oil drilling, bureaucracy and the misery it perpetuates.

O Brasil é uma farsa.__Impressiona ver quem ainda acredita nesse discurso “verde” vindo de um governo marcado pela corrupção, enquanto o país segue atolado em esgoto aberto, taxas abusivas e incompetência estrutural.__É triste assistir à manipulação narrativa de um Estado que fala em sustentabilidade, mas vive da exploração de petróleo, da burocracia, e da miséria que ele próprio perpetua.

How do restrictions on internet access affect you?

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Behind Russia’s digital Iron Curtain: how the West and Switzerland look online

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