A Guide To Staying Online If The Internet Or Social Media Gets Blocked In Your Country

For digital rights activists, an important milestone came in
2016 with the adoption of the UN Human Rights Council resolution on
promoting and protecting the freedom of users online. Yet, 51
intentional disruptions of the internet and electronic
communications took place in the first 10 months of 2016 in
countries across the world. For Africans, 2016 shaped up to be “the
year of internet shutdowns,” as at least 11 governments interfered
with the internet during elections or protests.

In 2017, the threat of internet blackouts, besides surveillance
and monitoring of online activities, still looms large. Deji
Olukotun, the senior global advocacy manager with Access Now says
that there are significant challenges facing internet freedom.
These include, he says, “the increasing sophistication of internet
shutdowns to target smaller groups of people and locations” besides
the deployment of technologies “that don’t truly provide new users
with access to the full, open internet.”

Governments usually direct
telecommunication companies to block certain
websites^[1] or completely shut down^[2] the telephone and
internet network. The next time that happens, here are a few things
you can do to avoid the blackouts.

1. Learn which circumvention
tools or proxies to use

There are numerous circumvention tools that
can be used to evade censorship and to access the internet
anonymously. These include Psiphon^[3], an open source
web proxy that helps users skirt content-filtering systems. There
is also Tor^[4], which
essentially prevents people from tracing your location or spying on
your browsing habits. Tor is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and
Android.

The Guardian Project also has a number of
apps like Orbot^[5] that can
help you browse the internet anonymously, send messages and encrypt
your internet traffic. Tails^[6] is an
operating system that enables you to start on any computer,
allowing you to bypass censorship, and uses cryptographic tools to
encrypt files and email messages.

Lantern^[7] uses
peer-to-peer networks to get people in uncensored
areas to share
their Internet^[8] connection and
servers with those without the same unfiltered level of access.
Peer networking is also used with FireChat^[9], an
off-the-grid messaging app that allowed users to chat using
Bluetooth or wireless during
blackouts^[10] in Iraq, Iran, and
Hong Kong.

But beware: governments can sometimes use
sophisticated technology to block these same sites or
introduce jail terms^[11] for using them. A
2016 Amnesty International report showed that the Ethiopian
government blocked both^[12] Tor and Psiphon
during anti-government protests there last year.

2. Ensure the safety of your
VPN

Many people use virtual private networks,
or VPNs, to get secure access to a remote computer over the
internet. For instance, VPNs constituted the top 12 apps^[13] downloaded during
Uganda’s elections last February. VPNs can, however, differ from
region to region, and it is important to know the safety and
security of each specific networks before use. Access Now
recommends That One Privacy
Site^[14] as a source that
compares different virtual networks.

Amama Mbabazi, a presidential candidate in Uganda’s 2016
elections referred his followers to the Tunnelbear VPN^[15].

Good morning. I hope voting is going well at
your polling station? To access Twitter, Whatsapp and Facebook use
Tunnelbear VPN.

— Amama Mbabazi (@AmamaMbabazi) February 18, 2016^[16]

3. Remember to protect
yourself

Trying to circumvent an official shutdown
to get online is weighty task—but it all starts with the simple
stuff. For instance, ensure that all the sites you are using are
delivered over HTTPS. This allows you to access the original site
and not an altered version of it. Quartz recently switched^[17] to HTTPS to make
it secure for readers to browse our journalism. You can install
the HTTPS Everywhere^[18] extension
in your browser courtesy of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and
the Tor Project.

Another important thing to have is
anti-virus software, so as to detect and remove malicious software
from your laptop. “Something as simple and as basic as having an
anti-virus is a key thing. People don’t know much about this,”
Ephraim Muchemi, who conducts training in digital security
with the US-based non-profit International Research and Exchange
Board.

4. Seek help from the
experts

For journalists and writers who are engaged
in reporting sensitive information, it is important to know where
to seek help before blackouts. Access Now, for example, runs
a 24-Hour Digital Security
Helpline^[19], which can
advise users even during emergencies. Reading
their Digital Security Booklet^[20] can be a
key place to start.

Culled
from qz.com^[21]