Last Updated on December 15, 2023
For many people in the United Kingdom the BBC is probably the most important and reliable source of news on most subjects. Just like most developed countries, the major broadcasters are often the first place we turn to for news and information. Which is fine if we’re actually located in the country that we need information on, but increasingly difficult if we’re not !
One of the major issues with internet accessibility currently is the increase in the number of blocks and filters that are being implemented. I’m not talking about dictators or despotic regimes attempting to control internet access, although this is a big problem too. It’s more about the websites themselves seeking to segregate or filter their content for profits and control.
Much of it’s supposedly to international copyright, yet this often seems more like an excuse. Trying to catch up with an important event like the Coronavirus while outside your home country, seems like the perfect use of the internet – yet it’s denied to many of us. The BBC will block access if you try and watch any of their programmes from anything other than a British registered IP address. It doesn’t matter who you are, what are the reasons or even if you’ve bought a TV license ! It’s called geo-targeting or geo-blocking and is expanding at an alarming rate.
How to Watch BBC Coverage of the Coronavirus
So how do you access the BBC news coverage on the Coronavirus situation if you’re outside the United Kingdom? Well fortunately it’s not that difficult if you use a certain tool called a VPN (Virtual Private Network).
As you can see it’s simply a matter of taking control of the IP address that all these websites use to censor and block information from. Instead of the website determining what you’re allowed to see, you take control and choose which IP address it sees. So anyone wanting to access to the BBC from outside the United Kingdom simply connects through a UK VPN server.
In some senses it’s a rather stupid situation that in order to gain access to a specific website you have to disguise your real location. Unfortunately this is how the internet seems to be heading currently, so using a VPN seems pretty much essential if you want to be able to access these sites.
