bitcointalk banned in the Philippines

[AB de Royse777]

Are you all who are saying it's banned in the Philippines sure that it's really banned there? I changed my VPN to Philippines and I can still browse and write on the forum. In fact, I am writing this post while I am using the Philippines IP.

Isn't it the ISP who can ban a site? In this case, the OP needs to reach out to his ISP.

[knowngunman]

I guess this could be because of the filtering of the ISP we knew recently here in the Philippines, where there is a lot of banning of exchange and other crypto-related stuff, and I guess because of this, and based on the other members in the local board of the Pilipinas into this topic, they are still accessible. Apparently, right now, I can still access the forum smoothly. Have you tried to change your DNS?

Emphasis on the part I bold in your post. If they can banned other crypto related stuff, then there's nothing surprising if they end up banning forum for Philippines citizens. After all, the forum is a platform where crypto and other things are being discussed. As far as I know, crypto is not legally banned in Philippine but it is not a legal tender just like in many other countries. Banning of exchanges is justifiable because of their regulation policies and licence but coming after a discussion forum like Bitcointalk is is a joke taken too far and of course, it's a misplaced of priority.

[BitBakerr1]

You all should understand that Bitcointalk is doing a very good job to reduce casino scam, majority of the people that are coming to this forum to report a scam by casino are members who are not on this forum, when they get scam by a casino or when they’re having issue with a casino and they have tried all they can and is not resolved the next thing they do is to search for a possible way to report the casino or get their money back on google or any other site when they do that, they usually transfer them to bitcointalk forum and immediately they open an account and then report their case that is why newbies are majority in reporting casino scam and most of this cases are usually been solved, some of those people accusing casinos are sometimes at fault.

[Kelward]

You all should understand that Bitcointalk is doing a very good job to reduce casino scam, majority of the people that are coming to this forum to report a scam by casino are members who are not on this forum, when they get scam by a casino or when they’re having issue with a casino and they have tried all they can and is not resolved the next thing they do is to search for a possible way to report the casino or get their money back on google or any other site when they do that, they usually transfer them to bitcointalk forum and immediately they open an account and then report their case that is why newbies are majority in reporting casino scam and most of this cases are usually been solved, some of those people accusing casinos are sometimes at fault.

Any country that will ban bitcointalk forum because of gambling advertisements are not well informed because the forum is actually anti gambling scams and that is why casino scams are reported in the forum and the matters are treated without bias. Forum members are very objective in the gambling board, we give our opinions on every matters not minding whether it favors casinos or not so seeing the forum as a place that habours scam casinos or force people to gamble is very unfair.

Bitcointalk is an informative and educative forum that goes beyond Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and gambling discussions, we discuss many other areas of life like politics and economics. If any government is banning the forum or proposing it in their country it means that they don't mean well for the enlightenment if their citizens.

[xLays]

What the hell, I’m from the Philippines and I only just found out right now that bitcointalk is apparently banned or inaccessible here. I discovered this right now to my cousin’s house and tried to access bitcointalk now, but I couldn’t connect. There wasn’t any problem when I'm home, right now in my cousin house it just showed a generic error from google chrome not like what OP posted..
The ISP I use at home is different from the one my cousin uses, which is actually one of the top internet providers in the Philippines. The ISP I use is only available in the town where I live.

[LoyceV]

What the hell, I’m from the Philippines and I only just found out right now that bitcointalk is apparently banned or inaccessible here.

It sounds like not all internet providers have implemented the ban yet.

May I suggest to read List of VPN Service Providers while you can?

To quote myself on one of the best VPN providers:

I think that Mullvad is the best VPN you can buy anonymously with cryptocurrencies, but they are certainly not the cheapest available option.

It's the cheapest one I've seen if you don't need it continuously. You can literally pay for an hour, and create a new account when you need it again. I just tested it: €0.01 got me 1 hour and 38 minutes of full speed VPN.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

Are you all who are saying it's banned in the Philippines sure that it's really banned there? I changed my VPN to Philippines and I can still browse and write on the forum. In fact, I am writing this post while I am using the Philippines IP.

I don't think you are right with this example.

Phillipines can ban their locals to use Internet in their nation and visit a website, but it's no longer issue for the locals if they use VPN with even Phillipines IP to visit a site like this forum.

Is it the main reason and use case of VPN?
If I use VPN with Phillipines IP and can not access the site similarly to how I can not access it with real IP, VPN is useless for me.

I guess you confused between a site restriction against IP from a nation and a nation restriction against a site.

[dkbit98]

Looks like the Philippines is making history as the first one to block the forum.

I don't think Philippines are the first country blocking bitcointalk forum, since Russian Federation was doing it for years.
This sucks, but it can easily be mitigated with Tor browser and VPN services, until they start banning that also, like they are planning in EU.
I usually don't recommend free VPN, and around $5 per month is not that expensive, but members from Philippines can also try using Firefox with free VPN.

[Findingnemo]

Looks like they banned the site not because it is crypto and they wanted to stop people from learning but they thought this is a gambling site?

Someone who did that has no idea what a forum is or what a gambling platform, they deserve to be fired immediately, but I guess they are getting the rewards for such acts and getting paid with your tax money as well.

[xLays]

What the hell, I’m from the Philippines and I only just found out right now that bitcointalk is apparently banned or inaccessible here.

It sounds like not all internet providers have implemented the ban yet.

May I suggest to read List of VPN Service Providers while you can?

To quote myself on one of the best VPN providers:

I think that Mullvad is the best VPN you can buy anonymously with cryptocurrencies, but they are certainly not the cheapest available option.

It's the cheapest one I've seen if you don't need it continuously. You can literally pay for an hour, and create a new account when you need it again. I just tested it: €0.01 got me 1 hour and 38 minutes of full speed VPN.

Yes, it’s probably because not all internet providers have implemented the restriction yet. Or since this is the Philippines, it’s also possible that some ISPs are just ignoring it or haven’t received any official notice to block bitcointalk. lol
I’ve been using Proton VPN (free version) for years, which is why I was still able to access bitcointalk when I was at my cousin’s house. Originally, I started using VPN mainly for gambling related sites.

@Findingnemo So yeah, it’s very likely that bitcointalk is being blocked or flagged because it’s mistakenly categorized as a gambling site rather than a forum.

[PX-Z]

Converge and Smart (mobile data) already did as i checked after reading the OP, initially i never encountered such message since im on custom DNS config always.

You mean they already did also for converge? I am using this internet but never encountered any restriction and I hope none too in the future.

Yes, as for the same reported incidents, Smart, PLDT and converge are the ones who can easily implement such bans from the mandate of CICC and with the help of DICT. And yes, that's what i'm currently using but who cares, so many ways to bypass them lmao. Unless they announce penalty, fine or prison if someone still access these sites.

[joker_josue]

I only just came across this topic now. I found the situation really complicated for Filipinos.

They're still maintaining the blockade, right?

Is there any official announcement or news about the situation?

[wengibway]

Looks like they banned the site not because it is crypto and they wanted to stop people from learning but they thought this is a gambling site?

The forum has a Filipino community and it contains gambling ads and threads linked to websites already deemed illegal gambling platforms by the Philippines. The Philippine government is cracking down on anything that promotes or gives exposure to these banned gambling or crypto exchange sites. Kick is also banned in the country

[fullfitlarry]

Looks like the Philippines is making history as the first one to block the forum.

I don't think Philippines are the first country blocking bitcointalk forum, since Russian Federation was doing it for years.
This sucks, but it can easily be mitigated with Tor browser and VPN services, until they start banning that also, like they are planning in EU.
I usually don't recommend free VPN, and around $5 per month is not that expensive, but members from Philippines can also try using Firefox with free VPN.

Firefox free VPN is not available Asia as far as I know, they roll it out and limited to the US, UK, Germany, and France. But I do agree that we can used VPN to accessed the forum (using free Proton VPN).

And for those who are curious as what is the error message when we try to access crypto exchanges that has also been banned, here is it,



Source.

I haven't seen any official word from the DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology).

[LoyceV]

I’ve been using Proton VPN (free version) for years, which is why I was still able to access bitcointalk

Lol. You just violated Pronton VPN's Terms:

You agree not to use your Account or the Services for any illegal or prohibited activities. Unauthorized activities include, but are not limited to:
8. Promoting illegal activities or providing instructional information to other parties to commit illegal activities;

Imagine that, you're not allowed to use this VPN to circumvent government censorship, and you're not allowed to promote it for doing so.
Their Terms are the reason I've never used their VPN.

[SatsPH]

So as a Filipino, I wanted to know what are the reasons so I did sent an email 10 hours ago.



It was addressed to DICT as they are the agency here that handle the policies and other things related to digital infrastructure.
I will update if I will get the response from them.

[Lucius]

~snip~
And for those who are curious as what is the error message when we try to access crypto exchanges that has also been banned, here is it,

First they ban forum, and then at the same time they give you suggestions for "safe" online casinos. What's next, the threat of jail time if you're caught browsing this forum?

[TheUltraElite]

that kind of ban usually doesnt last forever. people will just use vpn and keep accessing anyway. blocking a forum doesnt really stop bitcoin discussion it just pushes it somewhere else.

While I agree, but you have to understand that not everyone can use a VPN or understands the nature of this ban and the reasons behind this.

Many people out there trust what the government tells them like an elder and if they say that a site is bad for them, they will also avoid it without questioning. I know this sounds strange but not everyone is that tech-savvy and when you dont understand something clearly, you tend to become "Scared" of it, leading to paranoia eventually.

I do hope the government removes this idiotic step after a few years or so.

[hd49728]

While I agree, but you have to understand that not everyone can use a VPN or understands the nature of this ban and the reasons behind this.

Many people out there trust what the government tells them like an elder and if they say that a site is bad for them, they will also avoid it without questioning. I know this sounds strange but not everyone is that tech-savvy and when you dont understand something clearly, you tend to become "Scared" of it, leading to paranoia eventually.

I do hope the government removes this idiotic step after a few years or so.

It's true and such bans always have good effects for purpose of governments which are aware of the fact that they can not restrict all citizens in their nations. Like in China, even with their Chinese Online Great Fire Wall, there are Chinese who can access Internet resources from other countries. It's the same with this ban in Philippines and clearly not all people there know about VPN or Tor.

People can see the ban, and if they want to find reasons, as well as how to access Bitcointalk, they will find resources guiding them to do this but again not all people want to learn, are ready to learn, and are able to learn. Like the elderly, such bans can be like permanent for them.

[stompix]

I don't think you are right with this example.

Phillipines can ban their locals to use Internet in their nation and visit a website, but it's no longer issue for the locals if they use VPN with even Phillipines IP to visit a site like this forum.

Is it the main reason and use case of VPN?
If I use VPN with Phillipines IP and can not access the site similarly to how I can not access it with real IP, VPN is useless for me.

I guess you confused between a site restriction against IP from a nation and a nation restriction against a site.

That's not how VPN work!
A VNP with a Philippine IP will not be able to see that website because the communication starts from a country with a block!
The main reason for a VPN is to fake your location so as not to be in the country where things are blocked.
I got logged off from Betfair like 100 times because I forgot I was connected to a US server and Betfair blocks US iP!