Last week Citizen Lab released a kind of everyman guide to circumventing Internet censorship. The guide is by no means exhaustive, but offers some well known and simple methods for bypassing Internet content control systems used by some of the most repressive governments in the world. It has been said that we now live in the information age. Certainly this is what governments around the world believe to be true. The desire to control citizen’s access to information and uncensored media has become prevalent across more then half the globe. In places like China, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and others direct filtering of political and social commentary is common. Most governments seem to believe it is necessary to ‘protect’ their citizens from certain ideas or types of content. Here, in the United States, arguments about COPA and CIPA have lead to numerous court cases — CIPA is currently under review to see if it can be extended to block sites like myspace.com and facebook.
As governments and corporations extend their power and influence, their need to limit access to ideas which contradict theirs will continue to grow. The ability to bypass Internet filters or hide one’s identity will become more and more essential. This guide offers a helpful start for everyone.
