As the election date approaches in Kenya, there are already fears in certain quarters that the government might shut down the internet, or block access to popular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
However, the Kenyan government has on several occasions insisted that it will not tamper with the internet access for its people
This has not prevented Tunnel Bear, a VPN company based in Toronto, Canada, from taking steps to ensure that should the Kenyan government fail to keep its word, its Kenyan users will still have access to the internet in general or the specific blocked platforms.
The Canadian company took to its Twitter account announcing that for the month of August, Kenyan-based users will get 10 GB of free bandwidth to access the internet should the government block access.
This is not a one-off event, as the company has already done the same in other countries including Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and even Russia that are at risk of the internet being shut down during crucial times like elections, protests or to evade government blocking of communication websites like WhatsApp and Facebook.
Tunnel Bear calls this program Bandwidth Support, and its aim is to alleviate the financial burden of users in the affected countries from incurring costs in paying for a subscription service to a VPN company in order to have unrestricted internet.
“We believe those going through such difficult situations should not have to consider the financial burden of open access to the internet, so we work with community partners to help us identify and support countries where we should provide bandwidth allowances,” Tunnel Bear explains on its official website.
