Internet freedom: a cat and mouse game for independent media

In many closed societies, the internet is one of the few ways people can access independent, critical news and information. But in recent years, staying online and accessible has become a cat and mouse game that independent journalists, techies and activists are forced to play with repressive authorities.

Many of those techies and internet freedom activists gather alongside IMS at the Internet Freedom Festival in March to find new ways to ensure that the internet stays free, open and safe for everyone. Coming from over 130 countries, many of the hundreds of participants at IFF have experienced more than their fair share of digital attacks, website blocking and online harassment to prevent them from speaking up online.

These same issues profoundly undercut the ability of many of IMS’ independent media partners to stay online and accessible to their audiences. Blocking of websites, platforms and services is not new, but the practice seems to have increased in recent years as the technological skills of authorities become more advanced. Since 2012, the online censorship monitoring tool OONI, has documented network anomalies in 71 out of the 91 countries they have tested. While not all anomalies are cases of censorship, OONI says they are able to prove that at least 12 countries engage in online censorship, but many more countries are intentionally restricting people’s access to certain websites for political reasons. Their techniques vary from but all seek to control the information environment, curtailing people’s ability to access independent information, while feeding them state-sponsored propaganda.

Once a website is blocked, audiences with a bit of technical skill are sometimes able to circumvent the block by using a VPN but in most cases authorities will then proceed to block the widely used VPNs. More comprehensive solutions like Psiphon exist and new methods to provide access are developed all the time. In 2017, independent news websites in repressive countries and international sites like Al Jazeera and the New York Times started hosting a copy of their content with the Google-led AMP project, in the hope that regimes would deem the platform too big to block. Authorities in the Middle East blocked the platform in early 2018. And so the cat-and-mouse game continues.

An encouraging example of a fundamentally different approach to ensuring content is accessible, is refraction networking, which, rather than trying to hide individual proxies from censors, brings proxy functionality to the core of a network, through partnership with internet service providers. This makes censorship much more costly, because it prevents authorities from selectively blocking only select servers used to provide Internet freedom. Unfortunately for many of the repressive regions, IMS’ partners work in, it requires an internet service provider that is willing and able to implement these measures—something which most state-owned or state-controlled internet companies are unlikely to do.

Despite the dispiriting outlook, IMS’ partners and many other independent online media platforms from every corner of the world keep going and try to find new ways of making sure the public has access to the widest possible variety of news and information. At this year’s Internet Freedom Festival, two of our partners are presenting their impressive work to enable journalists to stay safe and stay connected to the rest of the world despite all odds. The first one with our partner organisation, Afghan Journalist’s Safety Committee, which looks at our joint work to improve the safety situation for journalists in Afghanistan through a wide range of mitigating and responsive measures. The second session is organised with our partner Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, which looks at the information security aspects of operating civil society organisations and media groups in one of the most trying contexts in the world.

If you’re in Valencia, we look forward to seeing you there!