The end of Internet censorship?
Every time I read stories — and there are many of late streaming out of places like China and Iran — about governments cracking down on Internet use, censoring websites, blocking people from Internet access, and so on, I think something to the effect of: Yeah, but there’s got to be lots of people that work around that somehow… right? I thought that must be true (…somehow), but I also feared it was wishful thinking as I did not have a lot of facts to back up how this is being done.
A Mashable piece by Stan Schroeder called We’ve Got Tools to Undo Censorship in Iran and China. Let’s Use Them does much to shed light on this topic:
Besides the already existing tools such as anonymizers, various proxies, and Tor, which are now gaining prominence, I’ve seen a number of almost simultaneous similar initiatives. The idea to turn Opera Unite into a web proxy for Iran is one such idea, which will undoubtedly (save possible technical limitations) quickly be turned into reality. There’s also the recently launched beta of Ipredator, The Pirate Bay’s stab at creating a secure VPN for everyone.
Initiatives such as these assure me, more than ever, that it will never be possible to entirely censor the Internet. A critical mass of users that employ techniques such as encryption and anonymization will arise, and it will become tougher and more expensive for anyone to control and monitor the information flow. It’s up to every one of us to join and use the tools we have at our disposal; once these tools become commonplace, the battle to set the Internet free will be won.
It’s somewhat heartening to see the amount of information coming out of Iran today in the midst of political turmoil and governmental interference (check out this great Slate piece for example). It’s being harnessed by technology and the Internet, and it strengthens my belief that even in the most restrictive regimes, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stifle voices that yearn to be heard.
