Evading Internet Censorship in 2020

Introduction

The UN Human Rights Council recognizes the importance of access to information and online privacy for the realization of the right to freedom of expression and to hold opinions without interference and it condemns measures to prevent or disrupt such access by member states. Despite this, national governments usually direct internet service providers to barr certain websites or completely shut down the telephone and internet as we've seen in various countries over the years.

Residents of a country where certain information is barred can find it on servers outside the country. Thereby these governments try to prevent access to information (even though they lack control of such) by using technical censorship methods such as site blocking and content filtering which are usually employed by national telecommunications providers.

This article was inspired by the perceived attempt of the Nigerian government to "shut down" the internet in order to curtail the current #EndSARS and #EndPoliceBrutalityInNigeria protests by youths across Nigeria. %[twitter.com/GuardianNigeria/status/13163651..

Hopefully, this article would create public awareness on how to circumvent or evade this.

Possible approaches by the government to censor internet use

Internet Protocol (IP) address blocking

IP Address blocking prevents a connection between a specific or group of IP addresses and a mail, web or Internet server.

How to evade:

Use a VPN! Using a VPN encrypts all connections and masks your internet activity from such ISPs. This also means that you are given a new fake IP address which is not in your internet service provider's IP blocklist. Recommended VPNs for beginners include TunnelBear and ExpressVPN. If you want something very cheap, do consider SurfShark. Free VPN services exist but they usually have slower internet speed and are sometimes ridden with ads. I usually recommend people to use paid VPNs for all their browsing activities as encrypted traffic goes a long way in ensuring online privacy and security.

Domain name system (DNS) filtering and redirection

DNS filtering is a technique of blocking access to certain websites, webpages, and IP addresses. The DNS is what allows easy to remember domain names to be used – such as google.com – rather than typing in very difficult to remember IP addresses – such as 198.168.1.12. The DNS maps IP addresses to domain names to allow computers to find web resources.

How to evade:

Directly typing in the 'difficult to remember' IP addresses eliminates the need for DNS and renders such restrictions useless. However, it is not practical for usual web surfing unless you're tech savvy and can workout one of the numerous tricks based on this on a PC. Otherwise, pointing to a different DNS server such as the Open Google DNS or other DNS servers would bypass the DNS restrictions set by your ISP. A simple google search of how to use a manual DNS server will bring up relevant guides and tutorials for every device.

Also, make sure you Use a VPN! A VPN will encrypt all your internet activities, evading such filters.

Packet filtering

How to evade:

Use anonymizers such as the Tor Browser to bypass most advanced forms of internet censorship, it also uses cryptographic tools to encrypt your web traffic. The Tor network is accessed by downloading the free browser which is available on all devices. Once you place a request for information in the browser, the browser contacts a random Tor server, or node. That node then passes your request to the next randomly selected node and so on. Your request will be passed between several nodes before reaching its final destination. The same thing happens when data is passed back to you.

These multiple hops are what help keep your identity safe. Each node only knows the IP address of the previous node and the IP of the next node. So it is impossible for any one server to know where the data originally came from and the ultimate destination.

This way, your traffic cannot be analyzed while it is being transmitted. Your data is also encrypted while it is passed between these intermediate nodes. Since it is a distributed network run by volunteers, it is extremely difficult for any government or organization to shut it down. However, surfing the internet via Tor is slower than using a paid VPN.

Although a VPN is generally faster than Tor, using them together will slow down your internet connection and should be avoided. More is not necessarily better in this situation. Again, the best solution for most people is a paid VPN.

Total network disconnection

Endgame? Definitely not.

Apps like Bridgefy uses the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antennas on smartphones instead of the Internet to stay connected and create powerful chains of devices that can be used to share information such as messages over seemingly unlimited distances. It's available on the Play Store and App Store for free.

I hope this guide was informative. Follow me on Twitter @DanielEtuk13 and join me on my blogging journey with Hashnode.

#EndPoliceBrutalityInNigeria