Category Archives: internet traffic

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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Twitter, VPN services in Belarus disrupted during violent crackdown

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Belarus’ crackdown on protests following the re-election of an authoritarian leader also appears to include widespread internet blackouts and traffic throttling on major websites. Twitter confirmed Monday it was experiencing blocking and throttling in Belarus amid ongoing protests disputing the results of the presidential election. The company didn’t specifically attribute the disruptions to the government, though it said “Internet shutdowns are hugely harmful. They fundamentally violate basic human rights & the principles of the #OpenInternet.” The statement from Twitter comes after a number of journalists and demonstrators in the region reported that virtual private networks appeared to be blocked, and NetBlocks.org, which tracks digital disruptions, said shutdowns had stretched for nearly 24 hours at press time. Independent media sites, alternative voting resources and roughly half the foreign traffic typically entering the country also had been blocked, according to Access Now, a digital rights organization. Update: It has been almost 24 […]

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