With "Snowflake" against censorship How you can help the Iranian people get online
Iran is once again cutting the internet in order to control growing protests in the country. Internet users in Europe can help the Iranian people from home. Here's how it works.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Since the end of December, many people have once again been protesting against the regime in Iran, whereupon the leadership has largely blocked access to the global internet in order to make demonstrations and reporting more difficult.
- The digital blackout is hitting the population hard and is also making it difficult for foreign media to assess the extent of the protests and repression.
- Nevertheless, technical tools such as the Tor extension "Snowflake" make it possible to partially circumvent state internet blocks.
Since the end of December, large numbers of people in Iran have once again been taking to the streets against the regime. This was initially triggered by protests by traders in Tehran who complained about the poor economic situation. The demonstrations then quickly spread to other parts of the country.
The leadership in Tehran responded with familiar means. Access to the global Internet was largely cut off. The regime wanted to make it more difficult to organize the protests and prevent images, videos and reports from reaching the outside world. This digital blackout has serious consequences for the population. Without the internet, it is almost impossible to exchange information.
Foreign media are also facing problems. Without reliable contacts, it is becoming increasingly difficult to assess the extent of the protests and the actions of the security forces. The almost complete isolation from the global internet is considered to be one of the most effective instruments of the Iranian security apparatus.
Snowflake shares its own internet connection
However, there are technical workarounds against such Internet blocks. One of these is called "Snowflake". It is a free extension for internet browsers that was developed by the so-called Tor project. This project is best known for the "Tor Browser", which allows websites to be accessed anonymously.
Anyone who installs Snowflake voluntarily makes a small part of their own Internet connection available. People in countries with strong censorship can use this connection to gain access to the open Internet. The extension is available for popular browsers such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox.
This is how you proceed
- First, you need to check which Internet browser you are using on your computer: If it uses Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox, you can install the extension. Click on the appropriate link.
- On the extension page, click on the "Add" button.
- Once installed, a snowflake icon will appear in the top right-hand corner of the browser. Click on it and then activate the extension (see image below).
The Tor network works via several encrypted redirects. This disguises the origin of an internet connection. With Snowflake, your own IP address serves as a short-term entry point, but changes constantly. It is therefore almost impossible for government censors to block all access.
In Switzerland, the use of Snowflake and the Tor browser is considered legal. Even if the authorities were to deal with the issue, it is difficult to clearly assign the data traffic due to the encryption. Worldwide, the Tor browser is only explicitly banned in a few countries - including China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.