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How to Unblock YouTube in 2020

4 years ago in Guides by Feranmi Akeredolu

Sometimes, the YouTube video you really want to watch is blocked and you can’t access it. When you click on it, instead of getting the video content you’re expecting, you see this message on your screen instead: “Video unavailable. The uploader has not made this video available in your country.”

Learn how to unblock YouTube videos in this guide.

Reasons You Can’t Access YouTube

There is a myriad of reasons why YouTube might be restricting you from that particular video you want to watch:

School or workplace restrictions
Legal restriction from your own country
Geo-block (YouTube sometimes puts blocks in place based on your geographical location)

A geo-block could be put in place by YouTube as an attempt to comply with the copyright laws of a particular country. Moreover, the owner of the video might restrict viewing in certain countries because the video doesn’t comply with the licensing laws in those countries.

Whatever the reason may be, not being able to view a video on YouTube when you want to can be frustrating. Fortunately, there are ways to solve this.

Here are the most common ways you can use to unblock YouTube.

Using a VPN

A virtual private network (VPN) is the easiest and fastest way to unblock YouTube videos. A VPN is the best option for online security and anonymity. It masks your IP address and encrypts your data, so your ISP can’t see the content you’re viewing.

So, instead of YouTube seeing the actual server you’re attempting to access content from, a VPN reroutes your request. It now appears like it’s coming from another server, i.e. the virtual IP address created by the VPN.

For instance, if you’re blocked from viewing a video due to your geographical location, you just have to switch your connection, using a VPN, to the VPN server of a country that has access to the video you want to watch.

Using a Proxy or Browser Add-on

A proxy server is an intermediary between the webpage and the user. It filters information coming in from the user before taking it to the webpage. It can also be used to hide a user’s IP address, making it appear as if they are in a different location, much like a VPN. This is why it is useful for unblocking YouTube videos.

There are many proxy websites available for free online. Some are even tailored to unblocking YouTube videos.
Moreover, a browser add-on such as YouTube Unblocker can also be used. It functions by linking the data from your browser to a proxy.

Using a proxy, however, is not a very secure method. Proxies do not encrypt your data, making your data susceptible to attacks by malware.

Downloading the Video For Offline Viewing

Another way to bypass a block on a YouTube video is to download the video, to watch locally on your device. There are several sites that allow you to do so.

To download a video that you’ve been restricted from viewing, follow these simple steps.

Search for a reliable website that can enable you to download YouTube videos to view locally.
Search for the video you want to download on a search engine and copy the YouTube URL of the video, given in the search results.
Paste the URL on the site you found for downloading videos, and click download.
Despite not being able to view the video on YouTube, once it’s downloaded directly into your device, you will be able to watch it offline.

Using Tor Browser

Finally, you can also use the Tor Browser to view a blocked YouTube video. The only downside is Tor browser wasn’t initially made to stream videos. This can cause the video to stream slowly, especially HD videos.

Whichever method you use, always ensure you’re not contravening a legal order in your country.

What is Tor And is it Illegal?

What is Tor?

Image by TorProject.org

Tor is short for “The Onion Router”. The Tor Browser is an internet browser that provides anonymity when users access the internet. Users make it difficult for others to track their movement on the internet and location.

Tor grants anonymity on the internet by encrypting users’ data in multiple layers. Sort of like an onion with its multiple layers. Hence, the name.

Tor sends internet traffic through a free, global, volunteer network consisting of thousands of relays to protect a user’s usage from traffic analysis. Anyone can volunteer their computer to be part of the network. Using Tor makes it difficult to track internet activity to a particular user. That includes online postings, visits to websites, chat rooms, and other communication methods.

Is Tor Illegal?

The question on the lips of anyone who has heard about Tor, using it on the dark web especially, is “is Tor illegal?”

To answer, you would have to look at one of the reasoning behind developing Tor, which is to provide anonymity. The core principle under guarding Tor, Onion Routing, was developed in the mid-1990s by the United States Naval Research Laboratory employees to protect U.S. intelligence communications online. It came available for the general public for free at a later point. Now, the Tor Project manages it. The Mozilla Foundation also supports the project.

The project’s mission “to advance human rights and freedoms by creating and deploying free and open-source anonymity and privacy technologies, supporting their unrestricted availability and use, and furthering their scientific and popular understanding.” As seen, there’s nothing in the development of Tor that connotes illegality.

Though Tor can be used for the distribution of illegal pornography, bank fraud, credit card fraud, identity theft, selling controlled substances and weapons, it is no different from the crimes committed on the surface web.

Just as browsing the surface web is not illegal because some people use it to perpetrate crimes, neither is Tor.

So, the answer is no. Using Tor is not illegal!