Category Archives: Internet Censorship

Signal is down in China after big user uptick

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Signal users have begun reporting issues the encrypted messaging app in China, a sign that the government may be adding another chat application to its list of banned services. Signal’s website itself has been banned since Monday, according to Greatfire.org. The app relies on end-to-end encryption, a data protection measure that puta the content of users’ messages and calls outside the government’s reach. Signal also has encountered roadblocks in Iran in recent months, where users began reporting issues in January after Signal experienced a surge of new users. Users in China can still download the app from Apple’s iOS store, and seem to be able to access the app through a virtual private network, according to CNBC. Android stores, on the other hand, no longer list the encrypted app as being available. Signal has been downloaded approximately 100 million times in China, according to data from Sensor Tower, an application […]

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Signal vows to fight blockage in Iran amid newfound popularity

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The Iranian government appears to have blocked Signal usage in recent days amid a newfound surge in popularity. Signal users in Iran began reporting issues connecting to the end-to-end encrypted chat application on Monday, according to Al Jazeera. The Open Observatory of Network Interference noted the apparent Signal blockage the same day. Some of the trouble began as early as Jan. 14 when Iran’s filtering committee labeled encrypted chat applications as “criminal content” and ordered them removed from local application stores. The government effort to restrict access to Signal’s encrypted messaging application comes in the wake of WhatsApp’s decision to announce an update to its privacy policy for business customers that would share their data with Facebook, WhatsApp’s parent company. The move was reportedly off-putting to so many users in Iran it appears to have pushed them to Signal, prompting the newfound attention from the Iranian government. Signal indicated on […]

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Networking firm Sandvine cancels Belarus contract, citing ‘custom code’ that aided censorship

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Sandvine, an internet routing and networking company, said Tuesday it would stop doing business with Belarus after realizing that government was using its products to suppress information during a bloody crackdown on protesters. “Sadly, preliminary results of our investigation indicate that custom code was developed and inserted into Sandvine’s products to thwart the free flow of information during the Belarus election,” the company said in a statement, which was first reported by Bloomberg News. “This is a human rights violation and it has triggered the automatic termination of our end user license agreement.” Belarus has been in a state of turmoil following an August election marred by allegations of fraud in which President Alexander Lukashenko, who has held power for a quarter-century, claimed victory. State security forces have arrested thousands of people and subjected hundreds to torture, according to Human Rights Watch. Sandvine was founded in Canada and is backed by a […]

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Kazakhstan Begins Intercepting HTTPS Internet Traffic Of All Citizens Forcefully

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If you are in Kazakhstan and unable to access the Internet service without installing a certificate, you’re not alone.

The Kazakhstan government has once again issued an advisory to all major local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) asking them to make… Continue reading Kazakhstan Begins Intercepting HTTPS Internet Traffic Of All Citizens Forcefully→

National Censorship: Pros and Cons

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By David Balaban
Is Internet filtering at the state level good or bad? As always, there are different opinions. I do not want to give a definite answer to this question now. On the one hand, the degree of filtering and the profile of filtering can be d… Continue reading National Censorship: Pros and Cons→

China Blocks Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine, Despite Offering Censored Results

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Update: Microsoft’s search engine Bing has been restored in China after being inaccessible in the country for almost two days. According to sources familiar with the matter, Bing was blocked due to an accidental technical error and not due to an attemp… Continue reading China Blocks Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine, Despite Offering Censored Results→

Communist Chinese Commence ‘Negative Information’ Crackdown

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Dusting Off The Command And Control RV for the Commissar…
via the South China Morning Post reporter Phoebe Zhang, we learn of new enforcement actions just deployed by the PRC’s Cyber Police targeting ‘negative information’…

“China’s cyb… Continue reading Communist Chinese Commence ‘Negative Information’ Crackdown→

Google Secretly Planning to Launch a Censored Search Engine in China

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After an eight-year-long absence from the most populated country in the world, Google search is going to dramatically make a comeback in China.

Google is reportedly planning to launch a censored version of its search engine in China that is going to b… Continue reading Google Secretly Planning to Launch a Censored Search Engine in China→

Copyright Directive legislation voted down by European Parliament

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The EU has voted down controversial copyright legislation, but the war’s not over: a second vote is scheduled for September. Continue reading Copyright Directive legislation voted down by European Parliament→