As westerners, we revel in our ability to be mobile, constantly available and continually accessible via our cell phones handheld computers, laptops, iphones and or any other mobile device at our disposal. Access to the internet empowers us to become better informed about current events and news, what interests and concerns us the most, and what information we deem to be pertinent to our everyday lives. However, not everyone enjoys the same freedoms.
Internet censorship is real and western countries aren't immune. Even the United States government has the ability to block access to certain online information they see as against national interests. Censorship may be hidden and less obvious to us, but it's a reality for a number of people throughout the world, ones where government regulations and limitations can all but eliminate and stifle creativity and personal development. Ultimately, it's not a foregone conclusion that every world citizen has the right to internet access. Here are some issues that point directly to the current state of global affairs.
Blocking IP Addresses with IP-Based Protocols
(HTTP,FTP,POP)
Censorship is a simple and effective solution to controlling who sees what and when. Blocking IP addresses interferes with IP-based protocols such as HTTP, FTP and POP, thereby ensuring that access to a given IP address is denied. However, it has another benefit for those who want to censor information online. Any targeted website with a shared hosting service will see all the websites on that hosting server blocked as well. A perfect example includes Turkey, where in 2014 over 50,000 websites were deemed to have prohibited content and were therefore blocked entirely.
Contaminating Domain Name Systems (DNS)
Domain name systems (DNS) tampering is another strategy employed by those who aim to censor the internet. Either the domain is blocked entirely, or an incorrect IP address is returned to the user via DNS hijacking. DNS hijacking is aggressively employed by China, a country who intentionally contaminates DNS caches with incorrect addresses, thereby making those websites they deem a threat inaccessible to Chinese citizens.
Filtering of Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and Keyword Blocking
Censorship can be as simple as keyword blocking, blacklisting certain search terms, and or blocking access to a given URL, thereby ensuring that users can't use certain keyword-specific search terms. Examples would include blocking social media sites and services such as Facebook, Twitter and limiting access to Google's search engine, blocking a given search term altogether, or even limiting access to video sharing sites like YouTube or Vimeo.
Network Attacks, Disconnection and Take Down Notices
Some solutions are much more brazen and direct. Disconnecting a network simply involves cutting off all routers, which in its essence, is a simple, straightforward and less labor intensive form of censorship. Computer network attacks are a real threat for governments, businesses and individuals as denial-of-service attacks (DDos) either prevents or limits access to certain websites or other services online. Even the UK government is not beyond launching DDos attacks as they become the first Western government to use a DDos attack in September 2011 when they blocked Anonymous, a network of loosely associated global activists.
Take-down notices are far more direct and to the point.
Government authorities may simply drop the hammer by demanding that a website, blog or other online entity remove offensive and or prohibited content. In some cases, they may even cancel or limit access to a given user's account.
In the end, whether its censoring social media, a website or even some activist's or individual's blog, today's world governments are willing to do what it takes to limit access to information that we all see as vital, but that they see as a threat. It's a question of free speech. Don't take your online access for granted. Get involved through social media and social networks and be sure to voice your opinion by explaining just how important free speech is.
