Many countries practice some form of Internet censorship, either by banning an online community or outright censorship of popular websites like YouTube or Wikipedia. Internet censorship is defined as “control or suppression of the publication or access to information on the Internet.” Countries vary in how strict or lax their control over the Internet is, but even the most lax countries still target certain websites, such as religion-related sites or social networking sites, and ban them accordingly. Internet censorship has given rise to different resources to access restricted sites, mainly in the form of circumventers, such as anonymous proxy servers.

In 2006, Reporters Without Borders published a list of 13 Internet Enemies that includes: Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. These countries practice the most extreme form of Internet censorship and often retaliate against citizens who violate censorship laws. The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) also uses a classification system and categorizes countries as ubiquitous, substantial, nominal, and surveillance. Widespread includes countries that practice the most extreme cases of censorship, especially the banning of websites with political content. Many of the Internet users can be sure to face jail for even visiting these websites. A partial list of nations in this category includes: Iran, Burma, and China. Substantial includes countries such as: South Korea, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Nominal countries include: Australia, Canada, and India. Countries on the watch list include: Morocco, Norway and Russia.

Another method of classification is based on what content is blocked by certain countries. Websites classified as “political” include content that deviates from the government’s political views. This category also includes human rights, religion, or other social causes that restrictive governments try to control. “Social” sites are related to sexuality, gambling, drugs, and other topics that a nation might find “offensive.” The “conflict/security” category focuses on sites related to war/skirmish, dissent, or other types of conflict. The “Internet tools” classification includes websites that are used to bypass censorship, anonymous proxy browsing, language translation websites, or sites that promote the use of email or instant messaging services. Countries can block some or all of these types of websites, depending on the content and strictness of the regime.

Aside from restrictive governments, many companies censor and monitor the Internet in their offices. Most websites that are considered entertainment and not related to the employees’ work environment are blocked. IT departments can block certain domains or track Internet usage because employees have no reason to use certain websites during office hours. Once again, circumventers and other similar programs can be used to gain access to blocked websites, but IT departments move quickly so they can prevent the most popular proxy sites from being used.

Internet censorship also comes in other forms, such as the censorship of portals or the moderation of online communities. Portal censorship is basically when a portal, such as Google’s, excludes websites that would, under normal circumstances, be included in a search. Portals can censor sites for different reasons, particularly when required by law. Censored sites are basically hidden and become invisible to an average user. The other form of censorship comes from moderators or managers of online communities blocking content that they believe should not be posted on their forums or that does not follow the forum rules and guidelines.

While governments and businesses restrict the way people use the internet, new methods are always being created to bypass restrictions and gain access to censored websites. With many restrictive governments using imprisonment as a method of implementing censorship, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to bypass the censors. A popular method of bypassing blocks is The Onion Router, also known as TOR. This service allows users to remain invisible to traffic analysis by bouncing the network connection through various gateways around the world. Users do not have direct access to the site they are visiting, but are sent through a series of connections, called relays. The relays are individually encrypted and sent to the next gateway until it reaches the exit node and the user can view the website that was requested. A third method of bypassing the blocks is the Java Anon Proxy, commonly known as JAP, which allows users to choose which network, managed by independent organizations, to browse. Once chosen, the data stream is encrypted and mixed with the data streams of other users so that anyone trying to steal or restrict the data stream is confused by the garbled stream they see. The Psiphon software was created directly to bypass the strict Internet censorship of countries like China and Cuba. Traffic between clients and servers is encrypted as data is transferred. Users from countries with strict censorship can log in and send a request to a server located in another country to gain access to blocked websites. Another method called “sneakernets” allows people to transfer electronic data, such as computer files, by manually moving it to portable storage devices, such as USB drives or CDs. This method could also be used in conjunction with other methods, since the encrypted data can be sent as usual, but the encryption keys could be delivered by sneakernet. Regardless of government restrictions and censorship, this data can move freely as it doesn’t travel through a network at all. One of the most popular methods of accessing censored content is through the use of anonymous proxy servers. These are usually the easiest to find and use, as they can be found in abundance by doing a simple Google or Yahoo search. Anonymous browsing software and websites allow the user to hide their IP address and browse freely. A good proxy will also encrypt your connection so that anyone trying to eavesdrop on the data stream cannot see what is being sent and received.

Internet censorship varies in severity by country or company, but ultimately, strict controls on Internet use remove a user’s privacy rights. Many different services are available to help a user regain their privacy and avoid being censored or spied on by restrictive agencies. A user should always be familiar with its environment and know how extreme or lax Internet usage policies are before implementing any anonymous browsing services. Policies will be different and will vary drastically by location, so being aware of your surroundings is important to stay protected while browsing the Internet.