2016 was an eventful year, with plenty of world events to be informed about. While access to the Internet and thus information around the world grew, censorship of all kinds including the blocking of websites also rose.
Here at Psiphon we have also seen more users of our software than ever before, and while this comes hand in hand with increasing information controls on the internet, we are happy to be able to help people get round them.
Freedom House’s annual report on Internet Freedom noted a decline in said freedom for the sixth year running, and found that two-thirds of Internet users around the world live in countries where criticizing the government, military or monarchy results in censorship. Their other major observation was that governments are increasingly targeting messaging apps.
This chimes with some of the things we’ve seen on our network this year. For example in January VoIP services were blocked in Morocco, upsetting users of popular free calling services like Viber, Whatsapp, Skype and Facetime. For the month long duration of the ban, we saw our Moroccan traffic triple in the first week and then double each week after that. Then in May a Brazilian judge ordered the blocking of Whatsapp, not for the first time. Again we saw traffic from the country triple, this time in 24 hours.
National elections are another flashpoint for censorship, and we’ve seen people turn to Psiphon as their governments block social media or oppositions websites, for example in August in Gabon. Another trend we’ve seen this year is the shutting down altogether of the internet in some countries during turbulent events - something that even Psiphon can’t do anything about.
Our hope is that in 2017 we can help people around the world to communicate and stay informed without restrictions. Happy New Year to all our friends and we wish you a safe, happy and free 2017!
This month Psiphon turns 10 years old! We would like to thank you for your support, as we look forward keeping the Internet open for many more years!
Psiphon began at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab as a ‘network of trust’ amongst people who knew each other. The first version of the software allowed a person’s computer in a non-censored country to act as a server for a friend in a censored region, and helped to prove that there was a real need for the open Internet.
Psiphon 2 was developed soon after, no longer requiring people in censored regions to know people in an uncensored country. Psiphon runs servers, known as Psiphon nodes, which act as proxies for users in censored regions, and can be accessed via a simple URL.
In 2008, Psiphon won the Netxplorateur Grand Prix 2008. The panelists called Psiphon “the world’s most original, significant and exemplary Net and Digital Initiative.” The following year, Psiphon was recognized with The Economist Best New Media Award by Index on Censorship.
In 2011 a downloadable Psiphon app – known as Psiphon 3 – was launched for Windows, allowing any application that recognized system proxies to access the network through a Psiphon tunnel. At the end of 2012, Psiphon 3 became available for mobile devices. Psiphon 3 is dynamic and resilient. Our specialist team of top developers continuously work to improve the software and fight the ever more advanced censorship techniques faced on the internet. This means Psiphon often works when other simple VPNs do not. All of Psiphon’s software is open source, and has been independently security audited.
Psiphon popularity is due in a large part to promotion through our media sponsors and partners. We work closely with Toronto-based NGO ASL19, who help Internet users in the Middle East and North Africa region assert their digital rights online and access information. We also work with major broadcasters, including Deutsche Welle, BBC, and Voice of America, to help them reach their audiences, and to provide Psiphon users with access to news and to an open Internet.
We have also been able to work with many organizations to help bring awareness to their various projects through our content distribution network. Last year we promoted the BFI Flare Film Festival, which helped raise awareness of LGBT issues. We also promoted Action Against Hunger after the earthquake in Nepal to bring awareness and donations to the disaster-stricken region. This year, we have also worked with Google’s Jigsaw and VICE News to promote a series of documentaries about freedom of expression, as well as partnering with Global Citizen to encourage US voters to take part in this year’s Presidential election.
Aside from our diverse partnership opportunities, our team actively engages in local events and international conferences to gain understanding and share ideas about pressing issues that are affecting Internet freedom. Last week, we hosted a session at the Internet Governance Forum on the implications of VoIP crackdown on government, telecom, and civil society. We also recently attended the first Asia Pacific School of Internet Governance in Thailand to learn about the rising problems to Internet Governance in Asia Pacific. We have participated numerous times at the Internet Freedom Festival where we learn about censorship trends and connect with the wider Internet freedom community, and contributed to a PETS paper for the wider technical community.
It has been an eventful, innovative, and exciting ten years for Psiphon! We look forward to what the future brings. Look out for more innovations and product releases in 2017!
Visit psiphon.ca to see our 10-year anniversary web site, and be one of the first to play our game!
Want to collaborate with Psiphon in 2017? Contact us at info@psiphon.ca
Follow our Twitter and Facebook for more updates!
We followed this up with our own tweet, showing a similar effect on our network.#Internet disruption in #Gambia has dropped @akamai traffic to the country to zero over the last hour. (h/t @PsiphonInc) pic.twitter.com/MUe4NWvFss— StateOfTheInternet (@akamai_soti) November 30, 2016
This outage occurred on the eve of the country’s presidential election on December 1st. The incumbent, Yahya Jammeh, had warned against people taking part in any protests that would follow an election he expected to win.Ongoing Internet outage identified in #Gambia. No network traffic from Gambia since 2010 GMT. pic.twitter.com/SiNFKO6rvU— Psiphon Inc. (@PsiphonInc) November 30, 2016
Following Jammeh's defeat in the election to Adama Barrow, the candidate chosen to represent seven opposition parties, Internet and telecommunication services began to be restored. The outage was expected to last into Saturday December 3rd, but instead was reversed by 11.30 on Friday December 2nd.
The reporting of the shutdown and confirmation at the network level came about due to close collaboration between the research community and the private sector, and helped to highlight the growing number of Internet shutdowns that are occurring across the world. For more information, read this piece from Moses Karanja, as he continues to track and document Internet shutdowns in Africa.