0x02 / 0x0eHow do I reach the open internet when it is blocked?

Censorship Circumvention

Censors block IPs, poison DNS, fingerprint protocols and shut networks down entirely. These are the tools and techniques that keep people connected anyway, and the trade-offs each one makes.

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Map: Censorship Resistance Map Pluggable transports and bridges Explainer Usable

Guides

Getting Around Internet CensorshipCensorship is an arms race between detection and disguise. Knowing which technique a censor is using tells you which tool will work. intermediate 30 minutes Internet Shutdown PreparednessWhen the network is switched off, the only tools that work are the ones you installed, tested and shared before it happened. beginner 1-2 hours to prepare Run a private circumvention server for people you knowChoose who can connect, explain what you can observe, and practise replacing the server before someone depends on it. intermediate An afternoon, plus ongoing maintenance Running Infrastructure for FreedomEvery one of these networks is only as strong as the number of independent people running it. Here is how to become one of them. intermediate 10 minutes to a weekend Using Tor SafelyTor hides where you are from the sites you visit and hides what you visit from your network. These are the habits that keep it working. beginner 20 minutes

Technologies

Toralso in anonymity Deep dive Battle-tested WireGuard Deep dive Battle-tested DNSCrypt and dnscrypt-proxy Deep dive Usable Kiwixalso in storage Deep dive Usable Mullvad VPN Deep dive Usable OONI Deep dive Usable Outline Deep dive Usable Psiphon Deep dive Usable

Directory27 curated links

Tor bridges and pluggable transports

Tor Browser — Official Tor Browser downloads
Tor Browser circumvention guide — How to use obfs4, Snowflake, meek and WebTunnel
Tor bridge distribution — Request bridge addresses from the Tor Project
Snowflake — Volunteer proxies that help users reach Tor over WebRTC
Run an obfs4 bridge — Official setup instructions by operating system
Run a WebTunnel bridge — Serve a Tor transport through a website with HTTPS
Run a Snowflake proxy — Browser and standalone options for donating connectivity

VPN protocols and self-hosting

WireGuard — Encrypted IP tunnels over UDP with cryptokey routing
WireGuard quick start — Keys, interfaces, peer configuration and connection checks
AmneziaWG — WireGuard-Go fork with traffic obfuscation
Shadowsocks — Encrypted proxy project and protocol documentation

Circumvention apps and services

Outline — Software for running and sharing your own circumvention server
Outline setup — Manager installation, access keys and Client downloads
Outline Server source — Shadowsocks service and access-key management API
Psiphon — Circumvention service with client downloads and documentation
Psiphon tunnel core — Open-source client and server for adaptive circumvention tunnels
Mullvad — VPN provider's official site and applications
Mullvad account and payment policy — Numbered accounts, payment handling and the operator’s stated logging policy

Measurement

OONI Probe — Mobile, desktop and command-line network measurement tools
OONI test catalogue — Website, messaging and circumvention-tool reachability tests
OONI Explorer — Search and compare published network measurements
OONI data access — API and bulk-data interfaces for independent analysis
OONI Probe risks — Read before testing: visibility, publication and potential legal risks

DNS

DNSCrypt — dnscrypt-proxy — DNS proxy with support for DNSCrypt and DNS over HTTPS
Quad9 — Public recursive DNS service with malicious-domain filtering
Cloudflare encrypted DNS documentation — DNS over TLS, DNS over HTTPS and Oblivious DNS over HTTPS
Anonymized DNSCrypt — Relay configuration and separation between client addresses and resolver queries

Full directory, all pillars →