OVERCOMING CENSORSHIP: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

"for knowledge itself is power". - Francis Bacon, 1561-1626

Knowledge sets us free, it gives us the ability to speak truth to power, teach us morality and empathy, give us self-fulfillment and to see joy in living. Since 2016, the UN has sought to enshrine internet access as a human right through Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
citing the right to freedom of expression and freedom of information.

"Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves." - Aaron Swartz, 1986-2013

Authoritarian regimes and even democratically elected governments increasingly seek to control and censor that freedom of expression
and freedom of information. Citizens and journalists are censored from reporting human rights abuses, voter suppression and corruption.
Citizens are denied access to information outside their national borders, encouraging ignorance and bigotry for anything 'foreign'.
Traditionally we think of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran as the most censored states. However we have seen Nigeria, Myanmar,
Turkey and Sudan restricting internet access, and most recently France seeking to use censorship as a policing tool.

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VPN (Virtual Private Network)

Is the simplest and most used solution.
Regimes will ask Internet Service Providers (ISP's) to block access within the national borders. A VPN allows your Internet connection
and traffic to burrow through an encrypted tunnel and access the public Internet from a safer, less restrictive access point in another location.
As always do your research and only use trustworthy paid VPN's, not free ones.
However we understand that not everyone has the means to pay for a VPN service,
Proton VPN offers a good 'Free' service, with those living under repressive regimes in mind.

Suggested Apps: Proton VPN

Suggested Reading: https://protonvpn.com/blog/bypass-internet-censorship/

TOR

This allows you to browse anonymously by routing your web browsing through the Tor encrypted network and emerging at an 'Exit Node'.
The websites only see the 'Exit Node' not your IP address and your service provider only sees you accessing the Tor network.
Please note; browsing through Tor will be slower than your usual browser.

Suggested Reading: Tor Project | How To Geek: Tor


HIDING APPS

VPN's are illegal in Belarus, North Korea, Iraq and Turkmenistan. Several other countries their use is not approved or restricted. There are reports of authorities carrying out on the spot inspections of devices and arresting those found to have VPN's installed. There are ways to hide apps within devices, the procedure is relatively easy and 'how to' guides can be found on the internet for your device. A more involved method is to replace the icon and name of the app, again guides for your device are available on the internet.


Also worth mentioning;

  • PROXY SERVER
    This is a gateway between your device and the internet with it's own IP address.
    Generally Proxy connections use an HTTP protocol which is unencrypted and less secure than a VPN.
    It is not as reliable as a VPN and in the case of China, they're efficient at sniffing out Proxy servers and blocking them.
  • SSH SOCKS5 (Shadowsock)
    Requires technical know-how to set up and will reduce internet speed.
    Works in a similar way to a Proxy server, however it appears as an HTTPS protocol, although lighter encryption than a VPN.

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Anonymous Original Guides

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Pub: 28 Jul 2023 09:14 UTC
Edit: 04 Oct 2023 19:00 UTC
Views: 98