Social Media Filtering Map

In the past few years, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube have caught the attention of governments around the world. Some governments have chosen to respond to the politically and socially sensitive content on these sites by shutting off access entirely, while others have blocked specific pages, profiles or videos.

Drawing on ONI testing conducted in 2008-2009 as well as media reports collected since 2004, the OpenNet Initiative has compiled data from on the most frequently blocked social media sites around the world. The map below serves as a rough overview of where these sites have been censored at any point since their creation.

We encourage you to explore the map and to click through to our country profiles to learn more about Internet filtering in specific states.

How is this map different from ONI's YouTube filtering map?
ONI's map of YouTube censorship focuses on YouTube specifically and gives a more detailed picture of when filtering has happened since 2006. The map above gives viewers a rough overview of where a number of popular social media sites have been censored at any point since their creation.

Herdict: Help us keep our map up to date!
Internet censorship reporting site Herdict allows Internet users to track which sites are blocked in their countries. If you have trouble accessing a social media site — or any website — and believe it is being blocked, let us know! You can submit a report via the Herdict reporter or using Twitter or e-mail.