It helps them control the message.
It also helps local companies. Twitter, YouTube and Facebook gobble up local competition around the world. Sort of like not letting Walmart move into a town.
Proxy Servers and VPNs, but the blocking is not centralized. The rules are, but the methods are up to local providers (with advice), so what works in one place doesn't always work in others. The methods of blocking are continuously updated. For the serious computer geek, it's probably not much of an issue but I already know more about computers than I really want to from dealing with it.
Somethings are just slowed down. Like Google. So it slowly pushes you away from that service. I generally use Bing to search because Google is slow and if I accidentally use a keyword that's flagged, then Google search will be blocked for about 5 minutes (forever) on my internet connection.
Anyway, sorry for the off topic post.
LouisJohnD, I've been trying to post something in the
"Welcome to the Fall Challenge" thread everyday. I've made it to 74 straight days so far but it's hard sometimes when you feel the photo you are posting is crap. It is fun though, and I've been learning a lot. Not just about photography and my camera and lenses but about me too.