Many countries engage in Internet censorship, either in the form of banning an online community or outrightly censoring sites they deem to be anti-government. According to one source, Internet censorship is the "control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet." While censorship or web regulations vary from country to country, even the most lax countries target certain websites such as religion-related sites or social networking sites. However, people have found ways to access such restricted sites, mainly in the form of circumventors, such as anonymous proxy servers.

In 2006, reporters without borders published a list of 13 enemies of the Internet including: China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Vietnam. These countries practice the most extreme form of Internet censorship and give harsh sentences to supposed-offenders. The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) also uses a classification system and categorizes countries as pervasive, substantial, nominal, and watchlist. Pervasive includes countries that practice the most extreme cases of censorship, especially taking action against sites perceived to be promoting anti-government sentiments. Internet users can be place behind bars for even visiting these websites. A partial list of nations in this category includes: Iran, Burma, and China.

Another method for classification is based on what content is blocked by certain countries. Websites classified as "political" include content that strays from the political view of the government. This category also includes human rights, religion, or other social causes that might be looked upon in a suspicion. "Social" sites are frowned upon for the discussion of subjects such as sexuality, gambling, drugs,etc. The "conflict/security" category focuses on sites that might have sensitive content such as wars, internal conflicts. The "Internet tools" classification includes websites used to circumvent censorship, anonymous proxy surfing, language translation websites, etc. Countries may block some or all of these types of websites, depending on the content and the strictness of the regime.

Government control aside, many corporates regularly monitor the Internet in their offices. Use of websites that are seen to offer recreation, and are not related to the employees' work are is not allowed. IT departments may block certain domains or track the Internet usage because employees may while away precious work-hours in surfing networking sites. Again, circumventors and other such software can be used to gain access to blocked websites, but IT departments are usually quick to act.
Internet censoring also comes in other forms such as portal censorship or online community moderation. Portal censoring is when a portal, such as of Google, excludes websites that would normally be included in a search.

 A popular method for circumventing blocks is the onion router, also known as TOR. This service allows users to stay invisible against traffic analysis by bouncing the network connection over various gateways around the world. Users do not have direct access to the site they visit, instead they are sent through a series of connections, called relays.
 The second method for circumventing blocks is Java anon proxy, commonly referred to as JAP, which allows users to choose which network, run by independent organizations, to surf through. Psiphon software was directly created to circumvent the tight Internet censorship of countries such as China and Cuba. Users can log in and send a request to a server located in another country to gain access to blocked websites.
Another method called sneakernets allows people to transfer electronic data, such as computer files, by manually carrying them on portable storage devices, such as USB drives or CDs. This data can be moved freely since it does not travel over a network at all. One of the most popular methods to access censored content is by using anonymous proxy servers. These are usually the easiest to find and use, since they can be found in abundance by doing a simple online search. Anonymous surfing software and websites allow a user to hide their IP address and surf freely.

With various governments increasingly tightening the noose on the net, user's privacy rights are being  denied. Ultimately, citizens particularly those of restrictive regimes will have to raise a voice against censorship.