TunnelBear adds Turkey to its bandwidth program
In response to the bandwidth reduction of Twitter in Turkey, TunnelBear, a Canada-based VPN service that provide free bandwidth to countries that experience internet blocking, added Turkey to its bandwidth program.
“Anyone connecting from Turkey will have 10GB of data added to their account,” TunnelBear said on Twitter.
In light of internet censorship, following the devastating earthquake, we have made the decision to add Turkey to our bandwidth program.
— TunnelBear (@theTunnelBear) February 8, 2023
Anyone connecting from Turkey will have 10GB of data added to their account. pic.twitter.com/TNFH6NBang
Following complaints about the slow official response to Monday's earthquakes, most access to Twitter was blocked, making it more difficult for relatives of victims, survivors and aid campaigners to be heard.
According to NetBlocks, a group that tracks Internet outages, Twitter was blocked on several networks in Turkey. This shut down an important communication channel for coordinating relief efforts following Monday's devastating earthquake.
Alp Toker, the director of NetBlocks, said the coordinated nature of the blocking suggests it was likely the result of a government order. He said network data indicated that the blocking was carried out using software installed by telecommunications providers that can prevent certain websites and services from loading.
