Is Uber blocked in Argentina?
2 min read
The Argentinian government has a history of trying to block internet access for its citizens, and its efforts have also spread to the realm of apps. In 2018, to protect entrenched taxi unions, the government of Buenos Aires had tried to arrest the local heads of Uber and block the app from the entire country. In the face of a tax evasion investigation, Uber’s top 5 executives had been forbidden from leaving the country.
Uber’s unstoppable expansion
The expansion of Uber’s controversial business model into new countries has always been a rocky one, and the situation in Argentina is no different. Uber’s business model is one that many countries don’t have laws for, leading bureaucrats to view it first and foremost as a tax evasion scheme.
To make the entire episode even stranger, it was the local Buenos Aires government, not the national Argentinian government, that were trying to block Uber. This had opponents of the change fighting on two fronts. They first had to explain why the national government, rather than the city government, should be pushing the block, and then argue that the block had no legal standing in the first place.
It remains to be seen how successful Argentina’s crusade against Uber and other online entities will be, and if there’ll be any lingering repercussions. The government has banned numerous sites in the past, but some of these bans are no longer in effect. For “organizing unauthorized lucrative activities on public roads”, Uber had to cough up a fine of $60,000 and were banned from operating in Buenos Aires for 2 years. As of 2021, however, Uber is available for all Buenos Aires residents.
How to bypass government restrictions
Regardless, if users in Argentina are looking for free access to the internet, there’s a simple solution. Argentina has a fairly rocky relationship when it comes to online privacy. To make sure you don’t fall victim of any Argentine government restrictions in the future, use NordVPN. Argentinian users can access any site on the web blocked by Argentinian ISPs. That’s because NordVPN offers 6700 servers in 111 different countries – including Argentina!
NordVPN’s powerful encryption is strong enough to prevent ISPs from seeing your traffic, rendering them incapable of blocking it. Find out more about servers in Argentina, get NordVPN and select a server that’s best for you.