In Which Countries Is Reddit Banned? (Updated 2022)

In Which Countries Is Reddit Banned? (Updated 2022)

Reddit is without a doubt one of the most popular and influential websites out there, but not everyone who has access to the internet can actually visit Reddit. The website, which calls itself “the front page of the internet”, hasn’t been in good standing with some governments around the world, resulting in Reddit being blocked in several countries. Curious to know where Reddit is banned? Find out here!

In which countries is Reddit banned?

It turns out that Reddit has been blocked in Indonesia, which is probably the most striking example. Aside from Indonesia, you also can’t access the site when you’re visiting from China, and North Korea (no big surprise there), and there are also some difficulties in Bangladesh – although there’s a bit of nuance there. Let’s find out why these countries decided to ban Reddit.

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Sometimes, Reddit will even be down for everyone, but that’s usually because of a server overload issue and is perfectly normal.

Why would countries want to ban Reddit?

Reddit has been around for a very long time since 2005 even. The website hasn’t really changed much but has seen significant growth over the past few years with hundreds of millions of dollars in yearly revenue and over 200 million active users. In other words, it’s a pretty big social media platform.

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The site is also known for its anonymity – you don’t have to identify yourself or use your real name, something like “Redditlover123” would work perfectly. While anonymity has its benefits, there are also some negative effects. For example, it tends to make Reddit a bit toxic and mean, sometimes.

Aside from Reddit’s perceived toxicity by some, the website also allows users to create subcommunities organized in subreddits. Sometimes, these subreddits can contain explicit adult content, and that’s something that some governments aren’t exactly fond of.

Some governments simply ban Reddit because they allow NSFW subreddits.

This is usually the main reason, but let’s take a look at why all these countries have decided to block Reddit from the internet. These blocks can be one of the many reasons why people have stopped using Reddit.

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Indonesia

We’ve actually discussed why Reddit was banned in Indonesia in a separate article. In short – the government decided to install a “healthy” internet program, and Reddit is not allowed on the internet there because of subreddits with adult or hateful comments.

While some parents applauded the move, it was also met with a ton of criticism and concerns about free speech and censorship.

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Why is Reddit banned in China?

China doesn’t only have a Great Wall, it also has a Great Firewall. A ton of social media platforms and large websites are inaccessible in China.

The government usually has self-made clones of all the popular services (Baidu instead of Google, for example) and blocked major Western companies from the market.

Great Wall Of China at daytime

Reddit was blocked in China permanently since 2018 and has been offline on a regular basis before that as well.

The front page of the internet was simply banned in the Republic of China because of the country’s very strict internet censorship laws, which is a part of the Golden Shield Project in the country.

Want to learn more about the Golden Shield Project? Check out the Wikipedia page over here.

Why is Reddit banned in North Korea?

The situation here is actually quite similar, but in many ways, much worse. Whereas the internet in China is very censored, North Korea basically barely has internet at all.

There are only a couple of thousand IP addresses allocated to the country, and if you get ‘online’ in the dictatorship country, you’ll only be able to visit a handful of government and pre-approved sites.

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North Korea doesn’t have the internet as we know it. In fact, Reporters Without Borders even described North Korea once as the “world’s worst internet black hole” in the New York Times.

As such, it’s no surprise that Reddit is blocked over there since pretty much every website is inaccessible.

Why is Reddit banned in Turkey?

Back in 2015, users reported that they could no longer visit Reddit from within Turkey. It turns out that the government signed Internet Law No. 5561, which allows the Supreme Council to block certain websites from being accessible in the country.

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Just like in other countries, inhabitants of Turkey were/are very skeptical of the laws. It was eventually met with not-so-peaceful protests, but Reddit remains blocked in Turkey today.

Is Reddit banned in Bangladesh?

There are some sources claiming that Reddit was banned in Bangladesh, but this is only partially true. It is true, however, that the entirety of Reddit was inaccessible for a few days because of a technical error by Bangladesh, but if you’re on a home internet connection, you can visit Reddit perfectly normal.

However, for some reason, Reddit has been blocked by some of the mobile internet providers in the country.

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In other words, if you’d like to visit Reddit in the country, you’d better use a home connection or a VPN instead of your cellular data.

It is unclear if other providers, including home internet providers, will follow but as of 2022, it still works.

Is Reddit banned in Russia?

No, or at least – not anymore. Reddit was briefly banned in the Russian Federation in 2015 by the Roskomnadzor because someone posted a guide on there in regards to growing your own psychedelic mushrooms.

The Russian media agency prompted Reddit to remove that single post, which they did. The ban only lasted a single day.

Summary

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Reddit is definitely not accessible everywhere in the world – you won’t be able to visit it in Indonesia, China, North Korea, and Turkey for example. Bangladesh can also be quite difficult, as you can only access it via home internet instead of a cellular connection.

Paul Alexander

About the author

Paul Alexander has a Master of Science degree in Communication Studies and is a licensed teacher in Flanders, Belgium. He's been passionate about writing and technology ever since he was little and has more than ten years of experience in the vastly interesting world of consumer electronics and social media. He is also the founder of ByteHaps.com.

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