Netflix’s gaps are its own choice or US sanctions: it isn’t offered in China, Crimea, North Korea, Russia or Syria. Governments have made it pull single titles, and Indonesia’s Telkom blocked it for over four years.
Every day we open Netflix from inside 24 countries, mostly over home broadband, and record
where it’s blocked, since when and how.
1 of 24tested countries with a confirmed block of Netflix
Blocked in Iran. Netflix itself turns away visitors from China and Russia. 24 of 24 results confirmed in the last 48 hours.
Blocked means the networks we test there failed to open www.netflix.com, twice, while it opened elsewhere.
“Turned away by the site” means Netflix itself refused visitors from that country.
* First observed on this date: the block may be older. Older results are excluded from current totals.
Background
Where Netflix is restricted, and why
Netflix’s help centre lists China, Crimea, North Korea, Russia and Syria as the places where it isn’t available. When it switched on in more than 130 new countries in January 2016, Netflix said Crimea, North Korea and Syria were left out because of US government restrictions on American companies, and that it wasn’t in China yet. The US ended its Syria sanctions programme in June 2025, but Syria was still on Netflix’s list in October 2026.
Russia is on that list by Netflix’s own decision. Netflix, which launched there in 2016 and had about one million subscribers, suspended its service on 6 March 2022, citing “the circumstances on the ground” after the invasion of Ukraine. A week earlier it had refused to add 20 Russian free-to-air channels, including the Kremlin-aligned Channel One, that a Russian law could require large streaming services to carry.
Governments also make Netflix remove single titles. In 2020 Netflix disclosed nine such takedowns since 2015, among them Full Metal Jacket in Vietnam in 2017 and, at the start of 2019, an episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj in Saudi Arabia, after the telecoms regulator cited the kingdom’s anti-cybercrime law. Netflix posted that episode on YouTube, where viewers in Saudi Arabia could still watch it.
In Indonesia the state-owned Telkom Group blocked Netflix on its IndiHome, Telkomsel and WiFi.id networks from 27 January 2016, saying it lacked an Indonesian permit and carried content not allowed there; XL and Smartfren kept it open, saying the government hadn’t ordered a block. Telkom lifted the block on 7 July 2020, after Netflix strengthened its parental controls and promised to act on complaints from the government or regulators.
Key dates
Netflix suspends its service in Russia, citing “the circumstances on the ground” after the invasion of Ukraine.
Indonesia’s Telkom Group lifts its four-year Netflix block on IndiHome, Telkomsel and WiFi.id.
Netflix discloses that it has removed nine titles since 2015 to comply with government demands, from New Zealand to Saudi Arabia.
Netflix pulls an episode of Patriot Act criticising Saudi Arabia’s crown prince from its Saudi service after a legal request.
Indonesia’s state-owned Telkom Group blocks Netflix, saying it lacks a permit and carries content not allowed in Indonesia.
Netflix launches in more than 130 new countries, leaving out China, Crimea, North Korea and Syria.
Get past a block
Netflix blocked where you are?
A VPN connects you through a server in another country, so a local block on Netflix no longer applies. Where VPNs themselves are blocked, you need one that can disguise its traffic.
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History
Changes for Netflix
No confirmed changes since monitoring began on 29 Sep 2026. When a block appears or lifts, and a re-check on several machines agrees, it shows up here.
Method
How we test
Test machines on the two biggest home-internet providers in most countries open the homepage every day.
A failure counts only when it happens twice on the same network, while the site opens from other countries.
A change is published only after re-checks a few hours later and again the next day, on several machines per provider, confirm it. It’s dated from the first sighting.
Test machines caught getting around blocks, through a VPN or a filter-dodging tool, are set aside.
We test websites, mostly over home broadband. Apps, calls and mobile networks can behave differently.
Netflix’s help centre lists China, Crimea, North Korea, Russia and Syria as the places where it isn’t available. In 2016 Netflix said Crimea, North Korea and Syria were left out because of US government restrictions on American companies; it suspended its service in Russia in March 2022.
Why Did Netflix Leave Russia?
Netflix suspended its Russian service on 6 March 2022, citing “the circumstances on the ground” after the invasion of Ukraine. It had also refused to add 20 Russian free-to-air channels, including the Kremlin-aligned Channel One, that a Russian law could require it to carry. The exit was Netflix’s decision, not a Russian block.
Does Netflix Remove Shows When Governments Ask?
Sometimes. Netflix disclosed in 2020 that it had removed nine titles since 2015 to comply with government demands, such as Full Metal Jacket in Vietnam and an episode of Patriot Act in Saudi Arabia, and said it would list such takedowns every year from 2021.
