How to Access Slack in China?

Are you still struggling with the Internet restriction in China? You may hear of the strict Internet censorship of China even though you might not have been in this country. Lots of websites have been censored by the government. You can’t use the Internet normally there like how you do it in your own country. Many users asked if Slack works in China. If Slack is blocked, how will you access it? Will you violate the laws if you use Slack in China? Those are the most frequently asked questions. Well, you will get the answers and learn how to access Slack in China in this article.

Can You Access Slack in China?

Slack is a useful collaboration hub which allows enterprises, communities, and other organizations to create a private and unique workspace with a custom URL. The organizations don’t have to rely on traditional methods like email or SMS for communication and sharing. Slack enables you to organize communications for group discussions or private messages. Leaders can send out notices effectively and the team members can share idea, information and files securely in one place. Your team can collaborate online just like you would in person. However, you can’t enjoy the same great experience with Slack in China because it is blocked by the national firewall. The firewall is very powerful. Once it detects you are trying to access Slack from mainland China, it disconnects you immediately. The local ISPs and servers won’t support you to access Slack either. You will need extra help to access Slack and other blocked websites in China.

Why is Slack Blocked in China?

So far, no official reason is given by Slack or the Chinese government for the blocking. There was no famous incident on Slack that exasperated the Chinese government. So, why is it blocked? There is no absolute reason. In fact, it is not rare that one website is censored in this country for no reason. WhatsApp, Wikipedia and other famous platforms are blocked as the government considers them as potential threats. It is true that Chinese authorities have long history in Internet censorship. They hold tight control over Internet access in the mainland China. In the past, some videos, photos and statements spread on western social media platforms caused hot discussions and riots in China. Protests became violent and brought huge trouble to the government. The government believed that those western platforms provoked the Chinese into acting impulsively. Therefore, they decided to block all contents they considered as “harmful.” Slack is on the list of “harmful” websites, so it is not available in mainland China.

Strict Internet Censorship in China

China has the strictest online surveillance system with the most advanced firewall on the earth. Many countries turn to China for censorship technology. The government has created the Golden Shield Project to implement surveillance. The Great Firewall of China was developed to block millions of websites and apps. They hire a large number of staff to maintain and update the firewall constantly to ensure that their government can control the information flow. Users in mainland China can’t access the Internet freely. Slack is not the only censored website.

The firewall blocks social media platforms, media, search engines, apps, work tools and porn etc. Famous websites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google, Google+, Blogspot, Flickr, WordPress.com, Tumblr, Soundcloud, Hootsuite, New York Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, BBC Chinese, WSJ, YouTube, Netflix, Vimeo, Dailymotion, LiveLeak, Break, Crackle, Wikipedia, Wikileaks, The Epoch Times, WhatsApp and much more. You always get error when opening those websites. No matter how great your connection it is or how many times you hit your device, you won’t be connected to the website you want. To access Slack or other blocked websites in China, you need to overcome the pervasive Internet censorship.

How to Access Slack in China?

Is there a way to unblock Slack? Yes, there is always a way out. Though the firewall is super powerful, a VPN can circumvent it easily. Before learning how VPN helps, let’s learn how firewall works first. The Great Firewall of China is a massive filtering system. It makes use of DNS blocking, URL keyword blocking, IP address blocking, page scanning, DPI technology and other methods to achieve surveillance. It adds related domain name servers on the blacklist and poisons DNS request to return you an error page instead of Slack page. It does not check every single website to block. Instead, it filters websites that include sensitive key words. The firewall also blocks certain IP addresses to certain websites to prevent users from typing Slack’s IP address to access the website. The team develops special software to scan if the website you visit contains sensitive words about China or contents deemed as “harmful”.

Therefore, you need to hide the fact that you are located in mainland China and using Slack to escape from the censorship. That’s how a VPN helps. VPN hides your IP address which reveals your location and disguises your activities with VPN protocols. VPN providers offer a large collection of server locations and IP addresses from different regions and countries. You are allowed to choose any server and your IP address will be switched to related location. To unblock Slack in China, you need to connect to a server that supports Slack. For fastest possible speed, you are suggested to connect to a server location which is the closest to mainland China. Servers in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the US are the most popular ones as they offer better connection. The VPN creates an encrypted “tunnel” between your device and the remote server. Your Internet data goes through this secure “tunnel” before it is sent to the website you need to visit. In this way, others only see the IP address offered by the VPN provider. Your connection is highly secured. Most VPN uses military-grade encryption to secure your online traffics. That means your ISP, government, streaming services and any other party only see encrypted traffic. They can’t decide which website you visit, what data you download/upload and how much bandwidth you use. Hence, they have no reason to block your connection to Slack. As the government notices many people use VPN to bypass the censorship, they use DPI technology to detect and block VPN protocols as well. VPN providers utilize special VPN protocols and tunnels to disguise encrypted connection like a normal https. Users can bypass the firewall as well as maintain high speed and security. Want access to Slack in China? Get a solid VPN.

How to Pick the Right VPN for China?

If you are about to travel to or move to China, you ought to know that the Internet censorship becomes more and more complicated as the government keeps updating the firewall to block more websites, apps and tools. Not all VPN works with China. Some VPNs work today, and can be blocked anytime in the future. Some VPNs can’t offer stable connection as they are not powerful enough to fight against the firewall. Of course, there are many leading VPNs that work greatly in China to help you unblock Slack. The condition is you choose the right VPN. What kind of VPNs you should choose?

We do not suggest you choose free VPNs. As they offer VPN for free, they don’t have enough resources to power their software to defeat the Great Firewall of China. Even they work at this moment, they can be blocked easily. As they are free, lots of people use them. That can cause government’s attention and get blocked soon. Besides, some providers may offer VPN for free while collecting your browsing histories and other information for revenue. Don’t put your privacy at risk. Though they are free to use, the price of using those free services can become very expensive. Especially when you use Slack, your business confidential can be stolen for using suspicious VPN services.

Choose a fast VPN. Encrypted traffic may cause slow speed while leading VPNs do not affect your connection obviously. Some VPN even improve your experience during peak hours as ISPs may throttle you for using large bandwidth. If you choose a slow server, you will have to wait for long time to connect to a remote server from mainland China. When you need to share folder with your colleagues via Slack, it can take hours to finish it. That does not help you job at all. Besides, the VPN uptime is important. You won’t want VPN connection drop frequently.

Choose a VPN that offers special protocol or tunnel for China or have servers in Asia or in the US. Some providers develop special protocols to overcome the geo-restriction and avoid VPN blocking. They also update their software regularly to ensure users always can access blocked services in China. Besides, the server locations can affect your connection. If the provider offers servers in Hong Kong, Japan or Singapore, your connection speed can be faster as it takes less time to reroute your Internet data. Servers in the US also are welcomed as they come with great speed and there is less Internet restriction in the US.

Encryption standard and customer support are important factors as well. High encryption ensures your connection won’t be cracked and detected by the firewall. They won’t see you are using Slack or stop you in any way. AES 256-bit encryption is the most advanced standard so far. As using VPN is more difficult in China, you may run into connection due to frequent firewall update. Most VPN providers offer 24/7 customer support. That means you can contact for help any time if the VPN doesn’t work. You won’t get stuck for long time. It enables you to use Slack to work regularly.

Other Methods to Unblock Restricted Contents

Another common way to access blocked content in China is to use web proxies. However, the downside of web proxies is that your information sent over the web is still not encrypted. And with the majority of these proxy websites being free and laden with ads and pop-ups, surf at your own risk while trying to avoid hidden malware. Besides, web proxies mainly help users unblock websites. Users still have problem in using blocked apps. Tor Browser also is used to access blocked contents. However, it does not offer encryption. Users only can unblock Slack and other websites on Tor browser. It does not help Internet activities on other browsers like Chrome, Safari and Firefox. Therefore, VPN is the most convenient, effective, secure and fastest way to unblock Slack in China.

Best VPNs for China or Other Prohibited Countries

Detail of Best VPNs

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Conclusion

Want Slack in China to communicate efficiently, stay connected, and get things done faster? A reliable VPN is needed. The Great Firewall of is much more powerful than you can image. It censors the Internet and stops users from visiting many western websites and social media platforms. Every time you try to access Slack in mainland China, you get “This site can’t be reached” error. A VPN will assist you to circumvent the firewall for Internet freedom. It masks your IP address, channels your data through remote server and encrypts your connection to the Internet. When you are connected to a server that supports Slack, you have a new IP address outside mainland China. The firewall and ISP can’t track you or see you are using Slack or other blocked websites & apps. You are free of the high Internet surveillance as you are not located in mainland China from their eyes. You may wonder if it is legal to use a VPN or Slack in China. So, there are no clear rules or regulations about the use of VPN or blocked websites. Many domestic parties, organizations and agencies need VPNs to do business and communicate with the outside world. There are many foreigners. They are travelers, students, government agencies or employees, and they need to keep in touch with their families, friends, boss or business partners by using their own ways like Slack, Gmail, Facebook and WhatsApp etc. It is impossible for the government to ban VPNs and western websites & apps completely. You won’t get trouble for using VPN or Slack as long as you don’t use them for illegal purpose. VPN is an effective way to bypass geo-restriction imposed by the Chinese government so you can enjoy a truly open and unrestricted Internet without censorship or surveillance. Get the best VPN to access Slack in China now.

Submitted by Josh M. Grove December 29, 2018