Access Denied.

I’m in no position to speak with conviction about the atrocities currently transpiring in eastern Europe. What I am qualified to speak on however is the technical methods with which a nation might censor or otherwise control what its residents are able to see on the internet. This article will focus on those technical aspects, in an attempt to help spread knowledge about what happens when a public resource is unjustly subjected to regulation by an entity looking to further an agenda.

First let’s recap on how the internet works as a whole, as that will help us better understand what’s happening when a website gets blocked. When you type a web address into your browser, it goes off to a DNS or Domain Name Server and obtains the IP address which corresponds to that website. IP addresses are how computers speak to each other and exchange information, such as in this case: website content! Your browser sends a request to the server on which the website lives, and the server responds with how a page should look and what media and text to display. This is in very basic terms how your browsing of the web takes place. Web address > IP address > Request > Content delivery.

The website name to IP resolution part is one of the stages which can be used to block access to something. How this works is by “poisoning” the DNS server’s list of IP addresses, so when your computer tries to navigate to a site like say, Wikipedia, your machine receives the “bad” IP and sends all of its requests there. This bad IP doesn’t respond, your machine doesn’t get the website data, your browsing has been prevented. DNS poisoning is one of the more common ways a system can be built to control web access. It can also, sometimes in shadier circumstances, be used to redirect you to a different website than that which you intended to view. This is especially harmful when used to spread misinformation, or even collect personal details for misuse later on.

Countries with tight control over their internet service providers can also require that they themselves block access to certain sites and services, as part of their infrastructure. While methods to circumvent this measure exist, they’re outside of the scope of what your typical user would accomplish. The effects stack, too. Taking China’s censorship on its people’s internet as an example, if you’re able to block access to global search engines such as Google and Bing, you can force people to use your own - in this case Baidu. Baidu only returns heavily censored results. This is much less work than blocking individual sites, as you can instead actively control what’s presented when people search for things.

As to why a group or nation might block access to something goes way beyond the initially obvious furthering of a political agenda. Many countries block access to websites for things like online piracy and adult material, as well as certain messaging apps which prioritize criminal behavior. Unfortunately, more often than not it’s to prevent people’s access to knowledge which would allow then to make unbiased decisions about something, rather than the protection of the vulnerable.

My goal here is to educate, and allow people to make such educated decisions on matters affecting the world today. Should a country control the web browsing habits of its people? Should websites be blocked for accurately describing the actions of a nation? Seldom are right and wrong separated cleanly, but it’s my hope the information to decide such remains accessible by all, irrespective of where one calls home.