1.4 million people used FreeBrowser to circumvent the Great Firewall of Turkmenistan

Analyzer是GreatFire的第一个项目,在2011年上线后,它一如以往的为大家提供测试服务直至今日。现在,我们做了一个新的项目叫做"Blocky",欢迎大家试用这个全新的版本!如果您对此有任何意见和建议,请发送邮件到support@greatfire.org

Since 2021, the authorities in Turkmenistan have taken exceptional measures to crack down on the use of circumvention tools. Citizens have been forced to swear on the Koran that they will not use a VPN. Circumvention tool websites have been systematically blocked. Arbitrary searches of mobile devices have also taken place and have even targeted school children and teachers.

The government has also blocked servers hosting VPNs which led to “near complete” internet shutdowns on several occasions in 2022. Current reports indicate that 66 hosting providers, 19 social networks and messaging platforms, and 10 leading content delivery networks (CDNs), are blocked in the country. The government presumably is unconcerned about the negative economic impact that such shutdowns can cause.

The authorities are not just trying to block outside information from getting into the country, they are also preventing their citizens from sharing information about life in Turkmenistan with the outside world. In August 2022, it was reported that deliberate attempts were made by the authorities to reduce the speed of internet connections.

Like in many countries around the world that practice severe online censorship, while VPNs are deemed to be illegal in Turkmenistan, they are widely used. According to Singapore-based advisory firm Kepios, there are about 2.35 million internet users in Turkmenistan (January 2022). It is believed that the number of internet users in the country has increased rapidly since 2020 because citizens of Turkmenistan were trying to learn more about COVID-19 and wanted to find uncensored information from sources other than local state media.

The Open Technology Fund (OTF), in their most recent annual report, noted that while it is common for authoritarian regimes to place restrictions on circumvention tools during political crises, it is becoming more likely that these politicians decide not to lift these restrictions, even after crises have passed. OTF also notes that the blocking of large global social media platforms has “gone from a China-only exception to an authoritarian norm”.

Since January 1, 2023, GreatFire has seen a surge of downloads of its censorship circumvention tool FreeBrowser in Turkmenistan. FreeBrowser has consistently been amongst the top ten free apps in the Turkmenistan Google Play Store. In 2023, FreeBrowser has been used by over 1.4 million unique users in Turkmenistan. A recent report placed the population of Turkmenistan at 2.8 million people (although government officials claim the population is much higher). This potentially means that every other person in Turkmenistan is using or has used FreeBrowser sometime this calendar year.

FreeBrowser’s popularity in Turkmenistan has been achieved with no promotional effort and largely by word of mouth. GreatFire focuses most of its efforts on China where the so-called great firewall is the most sophisticated censorship technology in the world. But our tools can also beat firewalls in other countries.

However, the rise of FreeBrowser in Turkmenistan came as a complete surprise. We believe that the growth of FreeBrowser is linked to efforts that the Turkmen authorities took in 2022 to limit the use of VPNs in the country. In the second half of 2022, civil rights organizations reported that “an increasing number of internet websites” were being blocked and that those using circumvention tools were being subjected to intimidation. 

The media environment in Turkmenistan is in many ways more restrictive than that of China. There is no media freedom in Turkmenistan, and all print and electronic media is state-controlled. There are few foreign journalists in the country and no independent voices. A 2013 law prohibits censorship yet all publications are controlled by the government and must receive authorization before going to press.

Like in China, there is no public list of censored websites but media websites are regularly blocked. These websites include social platforms, privacy-enhanced messaging services, and VPN websites. The Committee to Protect Journalists ranks Turkmenistan as the #3 most censored country in the world. China ranks #5.

We note that our peers in the internet freedom space have reported increased aggression from the Turkmen authorities. Citizens have shared their on-the-ground internet experience via the Localization Lab here, and Tor has shared detailed information about their recent experiences here.

FreeBrowser may soon pass a threshold of 500,000 monthly active users in Turkmenistan. That would mean that each month, 19% of the entire population of Turkmenistan would be using FreeBrowser to access an uncensored internet, circumvent internet restrictions, read alternative media, and avoid repressive surveillance.

It is difficult to assess FreeBrowser’s impact in Turkmenistan. Human Rights Watch has admitted that strict information control measures make it difficult for them to assess the human rights situation in-country. As a result, citizens in Turkmenistan are being robbed of their fundamental human rights and this likely severely impacts many at-risk groups in the country.

The narrative spun by state-controlled media in Turkmenistan paints a deceptive picture of reality, one that tools like FreeBrowser are crucial in challenging. As Turkmenistan welcomed its $5 billion "smart city," Arkadag, the government simultaneously throttled internet speeds, making VPNs unusable. This tactic curtailed any dissemination of unfavorable coverage of the event, leaving the citizens to rely solely on the state's glorified portrayal of the city.

Without FreeBrowser, citizens would be left with a single, state-controlled narrative, devoid of critical information. For instance, while the state media lauds Arkadag's smart homes with remotely controlled devices, it fails to address how these systems will function when internet speed is manipulated by censors. The state media's narrative is further skewed by the deliberate timing of Arkadag's inauguration, strategically chosen to strengthen the cult of personality around former President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

In this environment of controlled information, FreeBrowser offers an uncensored view of the world to Turkmenistan's citizens, promoting free access to information and a more informed populace. It stands as a beacon of truth, challenging the state's narrative and fostering a sense of agency among citizens. In the face of state media's efforts to suppress the truth, tools like FreeBrowser are more crucial than ever.

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星期五, 3月 18, 2022

Well-intentioned decisions have just made it easier for Putin to control the Russian Internet

This article is in large part inspired by a recent article from Meduza (in Russian).

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russian users have had problems accessing government websites and online banking clients. Browsers began to mark these sites as unsafe and drop the connection. The reason is the revocation of digital security certificates by foreign certificate authorities (either as a direct consequence of sanctions or as an independent, good will move); without them, browsers do not trust sites and “protect” their users from them.

However, these actions, caused - or at least triggered by - a desire to punish Russia for their gruesome actions in Ukraine, will have long-lasting consequences for Russian netizens.

Digital certificates are needed to confirm that the site the user wants to visit is not fraudulent. The certificates contain encryption keys to establish a secure connection between the site and the user. It is very easy to understand whether a page on the Internet is protected by a certificate. One need just look at the address bar of the browser. If the address begins with the https:// prefix, and there is a lock symbol next to the address, the page is protected. By clicking on this lock, you can see the status of the connection, the name of the Certification Authority (CA) that issued the certificate, and its validity period.

There are several dozen commercial and non-commercial organizations in the world that have digital root certificates, but 3/4 of all certificates are issued by only five of the largest companies. Four of them are registered in the USA and one is registered in Belgium.

星期一, 8月 03, 2020

GreatFire 应用生成器 发布

GreatFire (https://en.greatfire.org/) 是一家专注于中国的审查监督组织,我们自豪地宣布一个新的反审查工具,该工具将使任何被屏蔽的媒体、博客、人权组织或民间社会组织反制审查,将其内容得以传播到中国和其他互联网审查国家的数百万读者和支持者的手机上。

GreatFire 已经构建了一个名为“GreatFire 应用生成器”的网页程序,任何组织可以使用它来为中国和其他国家的用户解锁他们的内容。任何人可以访问 (https://appmaker.greatfire.org/),该网站将编译一个带有自己logo的应用,并将包含他们以前被封锁的内容。该应用还将包含一个特殊的、绕过审查的网络浏览器,以便用户可以访问未经审查的网络。这些应用将使用包括机器学习在内的多种策略来规避中国当局先进的审查策略。这个项目在其他有类似中国的审查限制的国家也同样有效。对于组织和最终用户而言,这些应用将免费、快速且非常易于使用。

这个项目的灵感来自于GreatFire自己的应用 自由浏览(https://freebrowser.org/en)的第一手经验,并希望帮助那些可能没有内部专业知识来规避中国审查制度的小型非政府组织。GreatFire的反审查工具在中国发挥了作用,而其他工具却没有。自由浏览可以引导中国的互联网用户从应用的首页进入被僧所内容的导航(http://manyvoices.news/)。

   

人权基金会 (HRF) 已经使用 GreatFire 应用生成器 创建了一个应用程序HRF 在全球范围内促进和保护人权。该组织的使命是确保自由在世界范围内得到维护和促进。 HRF 的网站 在中国被封锁, 但现在中国任何人都可以 下载 HRF Android 应用程序 并访问该网站的信息。

“现在是中国政府防火墙倒塌的时候了,”人权基金会战略顾问王珍妮说。 “与我们在 GreatFire 的朋友一起,我们致力于击败中国的审查制度——在每一部手机。”

GreatFire 应用生成器 的起源可以追溯到 2014 年,当时开放技术基金 (OTF) 支持 GreatFire 的“依附的自由”实验。该项目直接导致了 2015 年中国政府的大规模网络攻击,后来被称为“大炮”。 OTF 还为 GreatFire 开发 AppleCensorship.com,该网站正在跟踪苹果对包括香港在内的全球应用商店的审查情况。

自由浏览 是“大炮”攻击的直接结果,五年后,我们很高兴能够向任何可能遭受中国当局审查的组织提供我们的方法。 

星期五, 7月 24, 2020

Apple, anticompetition, and censorship

On July 20, 2020, GreatFire wrote to all 13 members of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, requesting a thorough examination into Apple’s practice of censorship of its App Store, and an investigation into how the company collaborates with the Chinese authorities to maintain its unique position as one of the few foreign tech companies operating profitably in the Chinese digital market.  

This letter was sent a week before Apple CEO TIm Cook will be called for questioning in front of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law. The CEOs of Amazon, Google and Facebook will also be questioned on July 27, as part of the Committee’s ongoing investigation into competition in the digital marketplace.

This hearing offers an opportunity to detail to the Subcommittee how Apple uses its closed operating ecosystem to not only abuse its market position but also to deprive certain users, most notably those in China, of their right to download and use apps related to privacy, secure communication, and censorship circumvention.

We hope that U.S. House representatives agree with our view that Apple should not be allowed to do elsewhere what would be considered as unacceptable in the U.S. Chinese citizens are not second class citizens. Private companies such as Apple compromise themselves and their self-proclaimed values of freedom and privacy when they collaborate with the Chinese government and its censors.

星期一, 6月 10, 2019

苹果审查中国西藏的信息

苹果在涉及西藏的审查方面有着悠久历史。 2009年,据计算机世界网透露 ,与达赖喇嘛有关的几个应用程序在苹果的中国区应用商店中不存在。这些应用的开发者未收到他们的应用被删除的通知。当面对这些审查制度时,苹果发言人只是说该公司将“继续遵守当地法律”。

2017年12月,在中国的一次会议上,当被问及与中国当局合作审查苹果应用商店时,蒂姆·库克 宣称

“所以你的选择是参与进去,还是站在局外,吼叫着事情应当怎样?我自己的看法非常强烈,你得进入赛场,因为没有任何东西会从局外发生改变。"

自苹果公司首次因与中国当局合作以遏制已被边缘化的声音而被批评的十年间,情况发生了什么变化?苹果继续严格遵守中国当局的审查令。蒂姆库克什么时候会期望他的公司能帮助在中国带来积极的变化?

根据生成的数据 https://applecensorship.com,Apple现在已经审查了在中国应用商店中29个西藏的热门应用程序。关于新闻,宗教研究,旅游甚至游戏的西藏主题应用程序正在被苹果审查。最下方附有完整的审查应用列表。

“苹果的领导力隐藏在他们审查应用程序以遵守模糊的'中国当地法律'的借口,但他们的行为缺乏任何透明度。通过从中国苹果应用商店删除藏文和其他许多应用程序,苹果阻碍了藏人获取信息和自由表达自己的能力,这是国际法下的一项基本人权。“ TibCERT(西藏计算机应急准备小组)的响应协调员Dorjee Phuntsok说道。 他们与GreatFire合作对被屏蔽的应用程序进行了分析。

   2019年1月,GreatFire推出了applecensorship.com。在那时,GreatFire联合创始人马丁约翰逊指出:“苹果公司在其透明度报告中没有分享有关应用商店审查的信息 - 该项目强制透明度。蒂姆库克可以随心所欲地说苹果在中国做了或没有做什么,但 applecensorship.com 提供了可以实际看到苹果实施审查原始数据的途径。

分析苹果在中国审查的iOS应用程序

有许多应用程序由藏人或为藏人制作,苹果正在审查中国区应用商店中的许多应用程序。了解某些应用程序被阻止的方式和原因以及这些决策背后的基本原理非常重要。为了解这一点,TibCERT(西藏应急准备小组)对在中国应用商店中被审查的藏文应用程序进行了分析。该研究使用关键字搜索藏文应用程序,然后使用GreatFire提供的应用程序审查平台。

TibCERT分析了119个以藏语为主题的iOS应用程序。使用“西藏”,“藏人”,“达赖喇嘛”,“佛教”,“藏传佛教”,等关键词搜索苹果应用商店时,可以找到下面列出的应用程序。这些应用程序分为五大类:“宗教或文化”,“媒体/政治”,“娱乐”,“工具”和“教育”。

星期四, 6月 06, 2019

重点关注苹果在中国审查实践的报告

最新的 数字版权企业责任指数排名 就公司和政府需要做些什么来提出建议,以改善全球互联网用户的人权保护。数字版权排名(RDR)旨在通过为公司尊重和保护用户权利制定全球标准和激励措施,以促进互联网上的言论自由和隐私权。

在他们的2019年责任指数中,RDR着眼于24家世界上最重要的互联网公司在言论自由和隐私方面的政策,并强调了那些尚需努力和已经取得改进的公司。 RDR指出:

透明度不足使私人政党,政府和公司本身更容易通过网络言论滥用权力,并规避责任。

特别是,该报告强调了苹果如何滥用其网络言论的权力,并在中国指出这一点。根据该报告,苹果公司在面对政府当局提出的要求时,并未披露其从App Store中删除内容的数据。

虽然[苹果]披露了有关政府限制帐户请求的数据,但它没有披露有关内容删除请求的数据,例如从苹果应用商店删除应用程序的请求。苹果公司对其影响言论自由的政策和做法讳莫如深,这让它的排名低于此类别的所有其他美国公司。

该报告为政府提出了明智而感性的建议。然而,这些建议还强调了与中国政府进行这些讨论是多么的困难。

RDR 建议政府要求公司的透明度并保持透明度。中国当局采取相反的做法 - 他们不希望在这些问题上保持透明度,因为它突显了他们不希望公众了解的信息。当局不希望公司透明,他们可能直接指示Apple不发布他们正删除的内容列表。

苹果可能真的认为他们必须遵守中国的法律条文。或者他们也可能愿意分享有关App Store中被审查内容的信息,但有碍于被中国当局束手束脚。苹果还可能会利用这种情况作为他们打击中国言论自由的掩护。无论Apple的真实动机如何,透明度都能够并已经被强加给他们。

在2019年1月,GreatFire发布了 applecensorship.com。该项目监控Apple在公司运营的每个市场中对App Store的审查。应用程序的可用性测试由网站访问者进行。截至今天,用户生成的测试已经确定了 超过1100个 在中国应用商店中不可用的应用。在中国受审查的应用程序包括那些涉及宗教,新闻,隐私和翻墙的应用程序。通过审查有助于规避审查限制的应用程序,苹果确实的让中国人无法自由访问信息。苹果的中国用户或许认为他们买到的是一流的设备 - 但可以肯定的是,该公司将他们视为二等信息公民。

RDR建议苹果对言论自由的限制保持透明,并公布有关公司因政府要求而删除内容所采取行动的数据。我们邀苹果审核我们在 applecensorship.com 上公开发布的数据,并根据中国当局的指示突出显示已删除应用的情况。

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