Internet users in the Philippines are now being forced by their government to use technological means to unblock porn. The South East Asian country is the latest to ban the world’s biggest legal porn websites, following in the steps of the UAE and Russia. Major porn sites such as Pornhub and Xvideos have been blocked by the government as of Saturday. Those attempting to visit these websites from within the Philippines without a VPN or proxy end up seeing this message:

“This website has been ordered blocked under authority of the Philippine government pursuant to Republic Act 9775 or the anti-child pornography law”

While “think of the children” might be the rallying call behind the Philippines’ porn ban, the truth is that this is plain old censorship. Martin Andanar, Duterte’s Presidential Communications Secretary clarified to The Inquirer:

“What’s important here is that the President does not like these pornographic videos in the Internet.”

Filipinos can use a VPN to regain their privacy and unblock porn

Filipinos on some of the country’s major ISPs first started noticing the block this past Saturday night. Around the world, many governments started their draconian positions on Internet censorship with basic “porn filtering.” In the United Kingdom, for instance, laws have been passed which will allow for similar website blocks in the name of stopping access to internet pornography websites. Unlike in the Philippines, UK residents are allowed to access pornography if they ask for permission, and verify their age. In each country where online pornography has been banned or blocked, internet users have turned to VPNs to unblock porn. One commenter on the Daily Mail comment section provided his thoughts on the block: