Decades of violence and political instability have turned Afghanistan into a forbidden travel destination, with many Western governments advising their citizens against visiting this country. However, this has increased its aura of mystery and those who have ventured there have found that in spite of the devastating wars that Afghanistan has endured, its landscapes remain beautiful and its people remain able to withstand even the most challenging conditions. While the constitution recognizes political and civic rights, in reality the population has never fully enjoyed them. Democracy has been threatened over and over by extended corruption, unsteady government authority and violence.
The weak political institutions and the fact that there are no resources to defeat them, have enabled the Taliban to continue having control over large areas of the Afghan territory. The parliament elected in 2010 is still in power, even though its term has already expired. While Parliamentary elections were set to take place in October 2016, but due to the insecurity and the lack of commitment over the reform of the electoral laws in Afghanistan, they were postponed. The elections are set to be hold on July 7th 2018, but recent reports indicate that they may be delayed even further . In spite of the uncertainty and the ongoing conflicts, Afghanistan has several media outlets that portray diverse opinions and in general, they are not subject to censorship.
That being said, many outlets are biased and their views respond to particular political interests. There is support of media freedom and measures have been taken to reduce threats to journalists. However, there have been hundreds of violent attacks on journalists and some have been murdered. The Freedom House classified Afghanistan as not Free, although it acknowledges that the internet has grown in popularity (although just over %10 of the population has access to it) and there is no evidence of restrictions or monitoring programs implemented by the government . That doesn’t mean that those in Afghanistan don’t need to consider using a VPN service. The interest in social media has increased in the country over the last few years and the government doesn’t have the technical capacity to apply filters, but you can still come across restrictions and security issues.
If you use public WiFi hotspots, your connection is vulnerable to attacks from hackers, which could result in your personal data being compromised. A VPN can help you to prevent unauthorized access to your information because it encrypts your entire traffic. Others won’t be able to see what applications you use or what websites you visit. The data is scrambled, which makes it impossible to read by third parties such as your ISP or hackers.
Apart from protecting your privacy, a VPN helps you to defeat restrictions by allowing you to change your virtual location. You can connect to servers outside Afghanistan, which will give you the chance to access content that is not available there. With a VPN, it is possible to enjoy content from popular streaming services like Netflix, and keep your identity protected because your IP address is masked.
Here are the VPN services that offer great performance for users in Afghanistan.
ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands and its privacy policy establishes that no logs of your online activities are kept. They have servers in 94 countries at the moment, including many options in Asia and the Middle East. Although the price of the plans is expensive when compared to other services, ExpressVPN is one of the best VPNs available and it is definitely worth considering it. They offer high quality software and strong encryption. In addition, ExpressVPN is known for offering great speeds that will allow you to defeat restrictions and access media content without issues. It is a solution that will allow you to enjoy online freedom and privacy when you access the internet in Afghanistan.
NordVPN
In order to protecting your privacy and prevent others from seeing what you do online, it is important to choose a VPN that offers a strong level of security. NordVPN is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to keep their traffic safe. This provider is located in Panama, where data retention laws are not mandatory. This allows NordVPN to offer a no logs policy that will give peace of mind even to the most paranoid users. Thanks to advanced options like Tor over VPN and Double VPN, you will be able to keep your identity protected. NordVPN also lets you bypass censorship and geo-location restrictions through its network of servers in over 50 countries.
VPNArea
VPNArea has a strong commitment to privacy and security, which is why it offers high encryption. Your data is protected with AES-256 encryption, which is very strong and thanks to their anti-DNS leaks, anti-IPv6 and anti-WebRTC protection, your real IP address won’t be exposed. With VPNArea, you will be able to bypass restrictions to enjoy true online freedom. They don’t keep logs of your online activities and they have over 200 servers in 60 countries. The good combination of security and speed, makes VPNArea another good choice for users in Afghanistan.
PureVPN
Based in Hong Kong, PureVPN offers an impressive network that provides access to servers in over 140 countries. The speeds are quite good and since there are many options to connect to, you are likely to find a server that gives you the best speeds to bypass restrictions and enjoy the content that you want. PureVPN doesn’t keep logs of your online traffic, so your communications, your browsing history and anything else that you do on the internet, remains private. You can stream, download content and enjoy online games without issues. Users in Afghanistan who want strong security and versatility, should also consider PureVPN.
