IPFS is a distributed system for storing and accessing files, websites, applications, and data.
When you put that URL in your browser’s address bar, your computer asks other computers, which might be somewhere on the other side of the country (or even the planet), for the page you are looking for. When you use IPFS, you don’t just download files from someone else — your computer also helps distribute them. When your friend a few blocks away needs the same Wikipedia page, they might be as likely to get it from you as they would from your neighbor or anyone else using IPFS. IPFS makes this possible for not only web pages, but also any kind of file a computer might store, whether it’s a document, an email, or even a database record
Decentralization and Content addressing is the key goals behind IPFS
There’s lots of complex technology in IPFS, the fundamental ideas are about changing how networks of people and computers communicate
It’s important to remember in all of these situations, using IPFS is participatory and collaborative. If nobody using IPFS has the content identified by a given address available for others to access, you won’t be able to get it. On the other hand, content can’t be removed from IPFS as long as someone is interested enough to make it available, whether that person is the original author or not
Because of decentralization it is harder to censor content. Because files on IPFS can come from many places, its harder for anyone (whether they are states, corporations, or someone else) to block things.