Tech Advice for Dissident Bloggers
A few years ago, Shi Tao, a business reporter for the Hunan-based Contemporary Business News, forwarded an official press release from the Chinese government regarding the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests to an outside site. He used his free Yahoo! account. China called Yahoo! and asked, “Who is this asshole?” The company revealed that it was Shi, who was then arrested and sent to prison for 10 years.
Iran arrested Kareem Amer for a sophomoric rant against his university and gave him a four-year prison sentence. His lawyers say since then, his teeth have been smashed and he’s beaten regularly.
Blogging is free speech’s last frontier against government suppression. It’s cheap (free), accessible (easy), and worldwide in seconds. Governments in need of control over information know this—and they’re pissed. So how do you get the word out?
Strategy 1: The Creative Approach
First, try the creative approach. During a recent media tour arranged by the Chinese government, 15 red-robed Buddhist monks ran up to the camera caravan waving Tibetan flags. The resulting international coverage obliterated any attempt at spinning Tibet’s oppression. The more you tighten your grip, Jintao, the more laughing monks will slip through your fingers.
Strategy 2: Anonymous Surfing and Proxies
If there’s no media to hack, get tech. Governments regularly block access to subversive sites using server-based filtering that depends on IP addresses and content. To bypass this:
- SSL Tunneling: Services like Steganos use Secure Socket Layer tunneling to connect to remote sites via relay, encrypting data before it reaches your browser. However, this often requires a monthly fee (approx. $14.95).
- Free Proxies: Services like Proxify and htmlblock.co.uk offer anonymous proxy-based surfing. They can be slow, but the embedded frames are effective at bypassing filters.
- Self-Hosting: Instead of using free blog hosts that might acquiesce to government demands, consider installing a server environment like MAMP, XAMP, or LAMP on your own hardware.
- Dynamic DNS: Use a service like no-ip.com to host your blog directly on your computer. A background process tells the world where to find your domain even if your IP address changes.
Strategy 3: Evading Content Filters
Automated government filtering depends on indexing "offending" phrases.
- Phonetic Manipulation: Borrow a tactic from spammers. Change your blog titles using unconventional phonetics for keywords (e.g., "enlarg urself").
- Image-Based Posting: Skip text filtering altogether by using images instead of words. Use Photoshop or the open-source alternative GIMP to type your entry onto a JPEG and post the image file. Search engines are "stupid" and cannot easily parse the text within an image, but the right people will be able to read it.
The Reality of the Grid
Yahoo!, Microsoft, YouTube, and GoDaddy routinely shut down blogs that certain governments object to because they are eager to access those massive markets. Furthermore, Section 216 of the U.S.A. Patriot Act clarifies that wiretapping authority applies to the internet.
The digital surveillance era has just begun. Adapt or be silent.