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LG C3 OLED: everything you need to know

The LG C3 OLED TV made its debut at CES 2023, continuing the long line of amazing C Series OLED screens we’ve always recommended over the years.

The LG C3 sits in the middle of LG’s 2023 OLED lineup – not as affordable as the B3 or as advanced as the G3, but taking a sweet spot of compromise in the middle. Despite LG’s other offerings this year, including wireless M3 OLEDand strong competition in the form of the Samsung S95C (which we rate as the best TV we’ve seen at the show), C-series screens always fare well with both reviewers and consumers – and the LG C3 OLED is one to watch this year .

But how does LG C3 OLED differ from other C-series screens and is it worth buying older ones LG C2 predecessor? We’ve put together a guide with everything we know about the LG C3 OLED screen.

LG C3 OLED: price and release date

The LG C3 OLED series became available for pre-order in late March at the following prices:

OLED83C3: $5299 / £6499 / around AU$7900
OLED77C3: $3,599 / £3,999 / around AU$5,370
OLED65C3: $2,600 / £2,899 / around AU$3,900
OLED55C3: $1899 / £2099 / around AU$2830
OLED48C3 $1499 / £1599 / around AU$2240
OLED42C3: $1399 / £1499 / around AU$2100

LG C3 OLED: appearance and features – what’s new?

LG C3 OLED is not a significant evolution compared to previous models. It has the same OLED Evo panel as the C2, with the ability to increase brightness in sizes 55 inches and larger (brightness is lower in smaller sizes). But there is an upgraded Alpha9 Gen6 chip which is LG’s latest and greatest image processor and should be able to push the panel a little harder.

As always, this is a 4K HDR TV with a 120Hz panel, Dolby Vision IQ support and Dolby Atmos compatibility – and you can expect crisp resolution and scaling capabilities alongside a full suite of premium formats. The new composite fiber construction also reduces the weight of this year’s C-series screen.

The new algorithm helps to distinguish between the foreground and background of the image, seemingly helping to increase the brightness in important places. Regardless, the deep blacks and incredible contrast of self-emissive OLED displays should be suitably stunning here.

The speaker system did not receive a significant update; it is still a 2.2-channel speaker with 40W output. Despite LG’s claims that the C3 can offer “virtual surround sound 9.1.2with AI Sound Pro’s feature, we’re a bit skeptical about it. Looks like you’ll still need one of the best soundbars out there if you want top quality sound from this TV.

Some changes to the smart platform include a sleek new homepage and improved user profiles to allow for greater customization. When setting up your TV, you’re guided through a custom picture preset to make sure the defaults match your tastes, which is a nice touch.

The C3 is equipped with four HDMI 2.1 ports, including one supporting eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) and two-way communication with the soundbar. These high spec ports are perfect for gaming on next-gen consoles, and the screen boasts an input lag of less than 10ms and a negligible response time.

This time the new feature is called Fast VRR media switching, so far unique to LG OLED TVs (although it is part of the HDMI specification), which LG says “can eliminate the momentary ‘black screen’ that sometimes occurs when switching between content played from different source devices connected through an HDMI 2.1 compatible TV and the ports. So if you’re jumping between Netflix and PS5 quite often, this should make for a smoother experience. This will be especially welcome for Apple TV 4K users, as this set-top box can use this feature to change the frame rate.

(Image credit: future)

LG C3 OLED: What we think so far

The LG C3 OLED is likely to be a best-seller, just like the C1 and C2 TVs that came out earlier. However, not much has changed for this year’s model, and older models are likely to see a price cut when the C3 launches. With that in mind, there’s no reason to upgrade – we haven’t seen it everyone our predictions about the new C3 came true. While the improved webOS, improved lighting algorithms and fast media switching might be enough to push some towards the latest iteration of the C-series OLED, but probably not if you have a C2 or C1.

The C3 is still the obvious all-round choice in LG’s OLED TV range – neither too expensive nor too compromised for its price. But we’ll have more thoughts on that in our review later in the year. With Samsung’s new QD-OLED screen, it’s possible that more significant leaps from other TV makers could outshine the spotlight of the C3 in the coming year – the race to be the best OLED TV of 2023 will be interesting!

Read our LG C3 OLED TV review.

The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra may miss this useful Galaxy Flip 4 feature

Motorola is expected to debut Motorola Razr 40 and Razr 40 Ultra in the first week of June, and a new leak reveals something that may be missing from the market-leading Galaxy Z Flip 4. According to the report, the Razr 40 Ultra may lack IP68 water and dust resistance, offering a more modest splash of IP52 resistance instead.

The request comes from a tipster Snoopy Tech, citing the leaked official Motorola specification. According to the sheet, the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra will have an IP52 rating. IP52 rating means the device is protected against limited dust and water splash ingress, but it cannot be submerged – which is usually found in some best cheap phones. In short, the water resistance of the new Razr does not match what is now the rival of its predecessor. This gel for retail list which went up prematurely in May listing the Razr 40 Ultra as not waterproof.

Motorola is expected to unveil its new Razrs at an event on June 1, but the company’s partners have already spoiled the reveal with early retail deals and even billboards in some parts of Europe.

Missing or irrelevant?

The degree of protection IP68 is standard in the vast majority best smartphoneswhether Apple, Samsung or even Motorola’s Edge 40 Pro has this level of certification. This qualifies as solid dust protection and means the phone can be considered waterproof (tested in fresh water up to one meter deep for up to 30 minutes). However, when it comes to foldable devices, this is not yet the norm. Foldables have many more moving parts than conventional smartphones, so water and dust resistance are obviously more difficult. Our division intowhat is the degree of IP protection‘ should offer more information.

For those looking for a solid Motorola experience, the obvious solution would be to buy a Motorola Edge 40 or Edge 40 Pro, both of which are IP68 rated as already mentioned. For those who want foldable devices in particular, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 remains the standard clamshell form factor carrier at the moment. While there’s no denying that water resistance is a useful feature, it’s hard to argue that it could be a significant sales factor. Unless Motorola is targeting its new Razrs specifically at swimmers, we suspect these foldable devices will be based on more prominent metrics like pricing.

This video maker’s new AI editing tool selects the best shots for you

Artificial intelligence may already be the basis in best video editing softwarebut now Veed launches what it calls “the industry’s first editing tool.” Video Creator platform.

Every second counts when creating an online video, especially on platforms like TikTok and Instagram where brands only have a few seconds to capture their audience. Presumably, Veed thinks our “ummy” and “ahh” are wasting precious time – with Magic Cut set to clean content.

The AI tool streamlines one of the most time-consuming (read: soul-destroying) parts of video editing – it removes all filler words and pauses. At the touch of a button, users can eliminate any hesitation, deviation or repetition. It is joined by several other video editing tools aimed at polishing post-production.

Creation of critical content

With its video creation service, Veed is no stranger to simplifying content editing. Unlike even best free video editing software AND video editing software for beginners, these services enable businesses to quickly create large amounts of content. This is not Emmy-winning material. But the videos are professional enough for social media channels.

The emergence of AI tools like Magic Cut comes as no surprise as developers streamline manufacturing processes in the quest for total availability.

According to Veed’s own research, more than a third of consumers have trouble editing videos. Tools like Magic Cut are for those users who don’t have the time or experience. It’s an easy way to automatically crop your best shots for TikTok, Shorts, and Reels.

“Magic cut means people don’t have to worry about getting the perfect shot or spend hours cutting out parts they don’t want. This allows people to spend more time on the creative, fun elements of content creation,” said Veed CEO and co-founder Sabba Keynejad.

The AI Editor isn’t the only tool hitting the platform. Generating subtitles, scripts and images, removing background noise and converting text to sound all are now highlighted.

The Veed toolkit was one of the few areas where we felt the platform really shone during our review. Green screen keying ia free screen recorder there were two climaxes. So we’ll be curious to see how well Magic Cut fares in the lineup, especially when the fuller version of Clean Edit is released. Users can try it out for themselves by signing up for early access.

B&O launches the world’s second 97-inch OLED TV, which is much cooler than LG

The 97-inch Beovision Harmony OLED TV has been unveiled by luxury audio brand Bang & Olufsen, with a shape-shifting speaker system that defines this TV series – a huge difference compared to most top OLED TVs.

The 97-inch OLED screen costs $63,075 / £50,650 (around AU$95,000) and will no doubt be produced in rather small numbers considering the price.

Not surprisingly, this is the largest screen size yet in the Harmony range, combining LG’s OLED panel with a number of luxurious materials, including motorized speaker grilles made of “craftsmanship of wood and aluminum” that sit beneath the giant screen when in use , but rotates to partially cover the large black rectangle when off, making it a more design element than most TVs.

Together with the high-end OLED panel, with the usual deep blacks and rich contrast you expect, the powerful built-in speakers make the 97-inch Harmony a tempting choice for big spenders after a top-end home theater screen. You can connect it wirelessly to other Bang & Olufsen speakers to create a 7.1 surround sound system with your TV at its heart.

You can buy Beovision Harmony in three color options – Black Anthracite, Natural Aluminum and Gold Tone. For those who need a smaller screen, the Beovision Harmony also comes in 65-inch, 77-inch, 83-inch and 88-inch sizes, but they’re also very expensive compared to the more mid-range LG C3 OLED.

Here is a video showing how the foldable/swivel speaker system works. It really is one of the coolest TVs in the world.

Second in line

This announcement makes B&O the supplier of the second-ever 97-inch OLED TV on the market, after the LG G2 OLED that launched last year (and will remain on sale this year – there will be no 97-inch LG G3 OLED model). The B&O model is certainly a step up with extras, with luxurious finishes and motorized speaker covers. The LG version doesn’t even have a stand…

Technically, B&O is not the second that will be announced – we saw the 97-inch LG M3 Wireless OLED TV at CES 2023, but it doesn’t have a specific release date, and the B&O will be available to order in May 2023, so the Harmony is second on our books.

Between more TVs around 100 inches diagonal and it looks like 32-inch 4K OLED TVs will be on the way soon, OLED is really pushing past its former size limits. Large and small OLEDs, thank you.

Microsoft is working on a mega security fix for some of its top issues

Microsoft has released a patch for a secure boot bypass vulnerability that allowed cybercriminals to deploy the BlackLotus bootkit on targeted endpoints – however, the update will sit idle on computers for months before actually being used as its application is a bit complex.

The original vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2022-21894, and this one was patched in early 2023. However, hackers soon found ways around the fix and continued to deploy BlackLotus on Windows 10, Windows 11, and many versions of Windows Server. As such, CVE-2023-24932 was discussed earlier this week.

However, to fully resolve this issue, Microsoft needs to make irreversible changes to the Windows boot manager. As a result, the fix will make the current Windows bootable media unbootable.

Bricklaying of PCs

“Secure Boot carefully controls the bootable media that can be loaded during OS initialization, and if this patch is not properly enabled, it can cause interference and prevent the system from booting,” Microsoft said in an update.

In other words, if you are not careful when applying the patch, you may damage the device that installs it.

To further complicate matters, a patched device will not be able to boot from older, unpatched bootable media. This includes system backups, network boot drives, Windows installation DVDs, and USB drives created from ISO files, and more.

Of course, Microsoft doesn’t want to lock down people’s computers, so the update will roll out in stages over the next few months. There will be multiple versions of the patch, each a bit easier to enable. Apparently, the third update will enable the fix for everyone and should be released in the first quarter of 2024.

BlackLotus is the first bootkit known to be used in the wild to bypass secure boot security. Attackers need either physical access to the device or an account with system administrator privileges.

By: ArsTechnica

The Panasonic Lumix S5 IIX smart video puts the Sony A7 IV in the shadows

In my last Panasonic Lumix S5 II review – the full frame camera scored the maximum 5 star rating – I particularly praised its video features, which are second to none in the sub $2000 / £2000 price range. We already knew that the next version of the camera is in the works, and the S5 IIX – which boasts even more advanced video capabilities – has just been officially announced.

I described the S5 II as the first video camera, the second camera and its main rival, Sony A7IV photo first, then video (which costs an extra 20%). But while the S5 II has an all-around advantage when it comes to video, the Sony A7 IV has some advantages over it when it comes to video quality.

The two camera brands have previously taken different approaches when it comes to video quality. In a duel between the S5 II and A7 IV, the S5 II offers uncropped 6K/30p video with 10-bit MOV recording, LONG GOP compression and 200Mbps bit rate, while the A7 IV has a lower 4K resolution in 16:9 but excellent ALL-Intra (ALL-I) compression and 600 Mb/s bit rate. Not an easy choice then – but now the S5 IIX is stepping in.

When further details of the S5 IIX were revealed on May 9, everything changed. The supercharged version of the S5 II outperforms the Sony A7 IV in all aspects of video quality and ranks among the best mirrorless cameraespecially the video.

The decision for video makers just got a lot clearer – but who needs the S5 IIX the most? I’ve spent quite a bit of hands-on time with the S5 II and S5 IIX simultaneously, and here’s what I think.

(Image credit: future)

Video king

We highlighted how the S5II and S5 IIX fit together in ours Explaining the key differences between the Panasonic S5 II and S5 IIX models article and at first glance not much has changed in the S5 IIX. The camera bodies are identical except for the later model which has greyed out controls and black markings. It looks super sleek, but practically it’s a confusing design choice – when I first held the camera, I had a hard time making out the controls in the dim lighting of the launch site.

Even the video specs look largely similar: uncropped 60K/30p video from the full 3:2 matrix aspect ratio, 4K/60p video with Super 35 crop (APS-C) and Panasonic’s new phase-detection autofocus, well implemented. But it is in these areas that the Sony A7 IV has an advantage over the S5 II – better compression and bitrate – where the S5 IIX took it to new heights and tied the score.

Picture 1 With 3

Panasonic Lumix S5 IIX camera on a table with ALL-Intra recording option on the touch screen — (Image credit: future)

Recording to an external SSD via the USB-C port is now possible on the S5 IIX in addition to an SD memory card, and I paired the camera with a SanDisk Extreme SSD offering data transfer rates of up to 1050MB/s. With this setup, there’s a wide range of enhanced video qualities available – too many to list here, but the highlights include Apple ProRes raw, with 422 HQ 5.8K, which delivers an impressive 1.6Gbps bit rate. This blows away the MOV S5 II format, LONG GOP compression and a maximum bit rate of 200Mbps.

Even direct to SD card, the S5 IIX can now record in ALL-I compression and matches the 600Mbps bit rate of the A7 IV. You can boost the ALL-I transfer speed up to 800Mbps with SSD enabled. It’s also possible to shoot Blackmagic raw (BRAW) while the S5 IIX is connected to an external monitor like the Atomos Ninja V – serious filmmakers need not tell you how exciting this is.

So not only can the S5 IIX record video at a better 6K resolution than the A7 IV’s 4K, but it can also record internal ProRes raw to an SSD, external BRAW to a monitor, and offers ALL-I compression at the same bit rate on an SD card. There is only one winner here.

Panasonic Lumix S5 IIX camera before S5 II

(Image credit: future)

Who is the S5 IIX for?

For the video productions I make, I’d prefer to shoot using the S5 II’s LONG GOP compression. Its 10-bit 6K/30p 420 420 video looks super sharp, and Panasonic’s color technology is a great starting point for simple gradation. In addition, the bit rate of 200 Mbps allows you to create files of reasonable size, even for high-definition 6K video.

I don’t really need the S5 IIX’s extra bitrate, and practically speaking, its ProRes raw and ALL-I files eat up hard drive space super fast and require a top-end PC for processing. But you can take this format or leave it – all the same S5 II video recording modes are available here in the S5 IIX. I worked for clients who absolutely required higher video quality, for whom I usually rented the necessary equipment.

And for all that extra edge, the S5 IIX is only a moderate extra expense over the S5 II, and actually cheaper than the A7 IV, as you can see in the table below comparing the prices of the three cameras. Panasonic has also announced price cuts on several full-frame lenses, putting more pressure on Sony and other companies.

For those who already own an S5 II, the V2.0 firmware was also announced on May 9, which also enables ProRes raw video output and recording to SSD, albeit via a paid DMW-SFU2 dongle which costs $300 / £200 / AU$300 USD. In addition, there is still no official word on the additional features of the S5 IIX over the S5 II with the paid key DMW-SFU2.

If I was buying a Panasonic from scratch, I would definitely choose the S5 IIX over the S5 II. In fact, I can’t think of a reasonable reason to choose the former, and I’ve updated our S5 II review to reflect this development. We have a new video king in town.

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Panasonic Lumix S5 II vs S5 IIX vs Sony A7 IV: price comparison
Panasonic Lumix S5 II	$1,999 / £1,999 / from AU$3,000
Panasonic Lumix S5 IIX	$2199 / £2299 / from AU$3300
Sony A7IV	$2,499 / £2,400 / from AU$4,000

Sony invites you to plug in a microphone and sing along with a large new Bluetooth speaker

When it comes to portable, durable party-ready speakers, very few models can boast the extra whistles, bells, inputs and features of Sony options – even the best Bluetooth speakers. The all-new SRS XV800 is no exception.

What is this? Large speaker with Bluetooth 5.3 (but no LDAC), five tweeters and dual, not round, not square, more curved rectangular Sony X-Balanced speakers. Two of these tweeters are located on the top near the touch control panel, one at the base and two on the back of the speaker. You also get an ambient light show, a sensor that detects its orientation and thus better adjusts the surround sound, a karaoke input (read: microphone) and more you can use for your guitar, an optical input for Sony’s unique TV sound amplifier mode and a USB port for local files.

There’s a Mega Bass button (it’s Sony hardware, after all), a 25-hour battery claim, and Party Connect support, meaning you can daisy-chain up to 100 Party Connect-enabled speakers for a serious sound (and light show) boost.

Oh, and Sony says if you’re in the karaoke mood, there’s even a two-track voice mode to help bring out your dulcet tones.

any restrictions? While you can stereo pair two XV800’s while using Bluetooth for a party or your favorite playlists (it’s rated IPX4 so it’ll survive a healthy dose of maternal nature), since the TV mode is handled via optical, you can’t create a stereo speaker setup for your TV.

Note the dual X-Balanced drivers and three tweeters (the other two are rear-facing for omni-directional sound) (Image credit: Sony)

Opinion: Whether or not you like its wheels, this Sony beast looks ready to play

Sony SRS XB800 on a blue background with an orange light show and a graphic of sound coming from two rear-facing tweeters and front-facing drivers

The SRS XB800 isn’t a shy and withdrawn Bluetooth speaker – look out for those two rear-facing tweeters (Image credit: Sony)

I’ll be honest: it looks a bit like what the British call a bin on wheels (we take them outside on garbage night for the garbage collectors to empty them. Then we take them back to our backyards) – the aesthetics didn’t help with the handle and actual wheels. But this is where I stop knocking. Because on paper I really like the SRS XV800.

It’s true that Sony’s Bluetooth speaker output never achieves the staggering success of the WH-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM4 on-ear headphones or the WF-C700N and WF-1000XM4 in-ear headphones. year.

Like most Sony Bluetooth speakers, the SRS XV800 supports not one but two apps – Sony Music Center and Fiestable. I don’t have enough words to go over all the extra benefits and double-take features you’ll find between the two for this speaker, but they’ll make for some fun afternoons – think of color swatches for your perfect party lighting, DJ sound effects, Motion Control (for changing playback with different phone movements) and karaoke features like echo and voice changer, for starters.

Where other speakers have a basic app that might as well say “Here it is, here’s a picture – oh, you’re connected” and done, the Sony speakers offer features you may never find or need, but I like knowing they’re there. And when it comes to connectivity richness and seamless deployment, this thing already scores big.

How does it sound? I can’t say yet. But I can still see him being brought to a party nearby soon…

Brazil threatens to block Telegram VPN

The Supreme Federal Court in Brazil plans to ban the use of VPN services in order to overcome possible Telegram blocks.

The decision by Minister Alexandre de Moraes came after the app criticized the state of democracy in Brazil in a public statement, warning users against so-called fake news law.

This is especially worrying as Brazilian authorities are notorious for blocking Telegram. In late April, the temporary ban quickly sparked interest in Telegram VPN across the region as users looked for ways to maintain access to the platform.

Brazil limits ‘technological trickery’

“Individuals and legal entities who engage in behavior involving the use of technological tricks for the continuity of communication through TELEGRAM will be subject to civil and criminal sanctions in the event of suspension, in accordance with the law, in addition to an hourly penalty of BRL 100,000.00,” Moraes’ recipe he said.

Despite not explicitly mentioning the words virtual private network (VPN) or proxy software, it seems clear what the technical ploys mean.

These security tools are actually used to spoof users’ IP address locations so they can bypass geographic restrictions on online content – whether it’s a foreign Netflix series or, in this case, a censored website and/or app.

To make matters worse, those found guilty of using a secure VPN or other bypass tool to access the popular encrypted app will be fined around $20,000 an hour.

In Brazil, dictator Alexandre de Moraes banned Telegram and fined $20,000 for those who teach users how to manage a VPN. Following this decision by Justice Moraes, Brazil is on par with Cuba, North Korea and China as one of the most restrictive dictatorships on earth.March 19, 2022

Plans to criminalize the use of VPN services come as the Brazilian Supreme Court accused Telegram of spreading misinformation around Law 2630, also known as the Fake News Law or the Censorship Law.

On May 9, Telegram sent a message to all its users detailing how “democracy is under attack in Brazil”, describing the law as “one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation ever considered in Brazil” that could “put an end to free speech” —informed France 24.

Moares asked the encrypted app to delete the message and posted a retraction for spreading misinformation, otherwise he faces a fine of BRL 500,000 per hour (over $100,000) for non-compliance.

This is not the first time Telegram has faced the muzzle of Brazilian internet censorship. On April 26, the social media platform was banned for not handing over neo-Nazi chat data until it was restored three days later.

Apple under investigation in Italy for alleged data breach

After temporarily banning ChatGPT and sparking a surge in VPN service downloads, another major tech company is now under scrutiny in Italy.

This time around, it’s Apple that gets in trouble for allegedly abusing its market dominance against third-party app developers.

In particular, the Italian antitrust authority AGCM accuses the American tech giant of applying more restrictive and unfavorable data privacy rules for non-Apple applications from April 2021. An investigation to investigate such allegations is now open.

Italy’s investigation into Apple’s ATT abuses

“The differential treatment is mainly based on the characteristics of the prompt that appears to users to obtain consent to track their “navigation” data on the web, and on the tools adopted to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns,” wrote the Italian portal Competition. Warranty press release.

The agency clarified that only Apple’s competitors are required to display a prompt asking for user consent to tracking in a more appropriate position than that contradicts the practice. It is also reported to use misleading language about online tracking activities.

Not just privacy issues, third-party developers also seem to be at a disadvantage because of the quality and detail Apple gives them about their ad campaigns.

“Apple’s alleged discriminatory behavior could result in a decrease in third party advertisers’ advertising revenue to the benefit of its commercial department; restrict entry and/or prevent competitors from remaining in the application development and distribution market; benefit their own applications and, consequently, mobile devices and the Apple iOS operating system.”

(Image credit: LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)

How Reuters announced that the American giant rejected such allegations, arguing that it imposes the same privacy rules on all developers, including Apple itself. “We will continue to work constructively with the AGCM to address any questions they may have,” it added.

However, this is not the first time that Apple has found itself at the center of antitrust investigations in Europe.

Since the company launched its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature two years ago – around the same time the alleged misconduct began – there have been numerous complaints and investigations into alleged abuse.

In March 2021, it was approx French start-up lobby group to raise the alarm about Apple’s privacy fraud, as it did not get the support of the national antitrust regulator at the time. Similar criticisms of Apple’s ATT practices have also been raised Germany AND Polandwhile in the same year the UK raised concerns about the overall increasing dominance of Apple’s market power.

Regardless of the results of the investigation in Italy, it’s clear that Apple faces increasing scrutiny in Europe – something that is likely to continue with the Digital Markets Act.

Elections in Turkey: How likely is information obfuscation?

As Turkish citizens prepare to go to the polls, concerns are mounting over potential information outages on key election days.

In fact, President Erdoğan is not new to shutting down the internet in times of crisis. The most recent case comes in February, when the government blocked Twitter just when people needed it most – while they were dealing with the devastating aftermath of an earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria.

Experts are now advising citizens to use a trustworthy VPN service ahead of the election to face potential disruptions. So what is the probability that the internet in Turkey will stop working?

Turkey’s Internet Hug

“Türkiye so far has no history of shutting down the internet during elections. However, since 2015, there have been about 20 blackouts nationwide,” said Alp Toker, founder of Internet watchdog Netblocks, at a Twitter Spaces event on May 12.

“We know there is a kill switch that effectively allows authorities to shut down telecommunications networks.”

In addition to blocking Twitter in February, the government also restricted several social media platforms after an explosion in Istanbul left at least six people dead and more than 80 injured. The surge in VPN use in Turkey came as people tried to access apps and keep information flowing.

According to an internet shutdown tracker developed by VPN provider Surfshark in partnership with Netblocks, at least eight instances of internet disruption that occurred in Turkey in the past were related to political turmoil.

Since 2016, Turkey has imposed 20 internet blackouts and social media restrictions nationwide, though so far none have been in place during elections. Nevertheless, public concerns are heightened now – @netblocks director @atoker on #elections in Turkeyhttps://t.co/O12jNzBy1pMay 12, 2023

As Toker explained, there are two moments around political elections that are particularly at risk of losing information: when people go to the polls and when the results are counted.

This year’s Turkish presidential election is particularly significant for the country, with Erdoğan facing the most united opposition in years – The Financial Times reported..

Starting from May 14, they operate on a two-round system, so that the risk of Internet blackout is also extended for a longer period.

That’s why experts encourage citizens to download a reliable, secure VPN app before the big day.

“The workaround works. We just need to find a reliable solution,” said Toker.

How a VPN can help

Short for Virtual Private Networks, VPNs are security software that can spoof the location of a user’s IP address so they can appear if they are browsing the web from a completely different country within seconds. VPN services also encrypt all data leaving the device to help users enjoy more online privacy.

Born as a way to keep your personal information safe while surfing the web, its circumvention skills are the main reason why VPN use has skyrocketed globally in the last year.

At least eight cases of internet outages in Turkey in the past were related to political turmoil

“VPNs are starting to become your digital outage survival kit,” said Gabriele Dackaite, external communications specialist at Surfshark.

At the same time, as both online censorship and VPN use increase dramatically around the world, governments are increasingly cracking down on tech-bypassers — human rights defenders in – informed the House of Liberty.

“Turkey is among countries around the world that have imposed restrictions on VPNs in the past,” Dackaite said, citing an incident in 2016 when Turkish ISPs were forced to block access to Tor Browser and some VPN providers.

Experts then suggest downloading different services so that users can jump between them in case of blockages.

We encourage people to check out our guide to the best free VPNs to make sure they are using reliable free apps.

In addition, Surfshark is committed to supporting journalists, NGOs and activists in Turkey and other countries where online freedom is under threat, so it appeals to anyone who needs it to get in touch.