The methods and tools that governments employ to censor and control the internet, and the tools and ways to get around censorship, are a constantly shifting battleground. But there is a set of evergreen best practices and helpful software that are useful.
The National Press Club recently hosted a panel of cybersecurity and digital experts to discuss the latest in government internet shutdowns and online censorship — and how journalists can work around these challenges.
Shutting down the internet has become an increasingly common tactic of governments and regimes looking to prevent civil society and free media from operating. Here, experts in privacy and security give their advice on the tools and tactics for skirting internet blackouts.
Many autocracy-displaced media have managed to navigate surviving outside their home country with varying degrees of success. In a series of interviews with GIJN, exiled news leaders from around the world offer some best practices and lessons learned from their own experiences.
Investigative reporters around the world are tightening their digital safety habits, out of concern that emergency pandemic laws, new spy technologies, and the lockdown itself have exposed journalists to even greater threats of surveillance and harassment. A dozen reporters and experts interviewed by GIJN agreed that sound digital hygiene was no longer optional for journalists in the COVID-19 world — and offered 10 security tips, including threat modelling, encrypted document transfer, and virtual burner phones.
When it comes to digital security, what does a journalist from West Africa, a Syrian journalist based in Turkey, and a French journalist on a reporting trip to Kashmir have in common? Answer: Very little. While they all need to protect their data, their communications, and their sources, they must each do this in different ways that are adapted to the context, explains Grégoire Pouget of the Paris-based nonprofit Nothing2Hide.
Information stored on your computer or mobile is at risk. You could leave it on a train; it could be seized at an airport security checkpoint; or by the police or courts. And of course hackers can access your data. You need to be aware of all the risks and ways to protect your information, your sources and yourself.
