What are the 'classical tools' used to circumvent Internet censorship?
In Iran, where political instability continues, the Internet is closely monitored, and sometimes the Internet connection is cut off nationwide. A 'classical tool' is being used to secure communications in Iran, the Rest of World, a non-profit international press, reports.
How Iran's diaspora are using old-school tech to fight censorship at home --Rest of World
In November 2019, there was a major communication failure that almost completely cut off the Internet throughout Iran. The disruption, seen as a national blockade to contain protests against the government, was the largest blockade in Iran's history, both in size and duration.
What's happening in Iran, where the internet is almost completely cut off? --GIGAZINE
by Majid Khahi / ISNA via AP
To combat the Internet blockade by Iranian authorities, Iranian engineer Mehdi Yahyanejad , who lives in Los Angeles, USA, has developed software called Toosheh that allows information to be received via satellite broadcasting. Toosheh, whose name means 'knapsack' in Persian, is a communication technology that extracts data embedded in satellite video files and makes them available for viewing on PCs and smartphones. With the advent of this communication technology, Iranian people have become able to access information on the Internet even when the Internet is cut off.
Yahyanejad started developing Toosheh in 2013. In Iran, the Internet has been cut off so often that Yahyanejad, who was looking for an alternative to the Internet, turned to antennas for satellite television. At that time, the Internet penetration rate in general households in Iran was about 20%, but antennas for satellite TVs existed in 70% of households and were available to many people at low cost. In addition to satellite broadcasting, the Iranian government said that it is difficult to track information senders and that the private artificial satellite Yahsat Y1B, which provides broadcasting services to the Middle East, is located directly above Iran. It has the advantage that it is impossible to block the radio waves of satellite broadcasting.
According to Yahyanejad, Toosheh gained 100,000 new Iranian users in November 2019 alone, when a major internet outage occurred. While the Internet was cut off, Toosheh delivered articles on the situation in Iran and overseas news media where access from within the country was blocked, which helped many people understand the situation.
Yahyanejad, who has been working on censorship measures by the Iranian authorities for more than a decade, told Rest of World that 'the shutdown of the Internet has terrorized people and said,'We are the means to speak up. It's a psychological strategy to make people think they've lost. It's very important to fight this shutdown to tell people that we're never alone. '
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