More than two thirds of the world's internet users are censored by their government in some form or another. If this shocks you, check out the most recent full global report from Freedom House—I'm not the first person to stand up and say I think this is despicable (just look at the Arab Spring), but in this post I'll be giving you some useful tips and pointers on connecting to the free and open internet. If you live under government censorship, you should know that there's a whole world of people on the other side of that firewall—people who want to help you connect. Even if you aren't censored, you'll still find some interesting information and you might even learn a thing or two.

Before I begin, let me just say that none of the things I'll be discussing in this post are fool-proof in any sense of the word. It's extremely risky to circumvent government censorship systems and the consequences can be quite severe if you ever get caught. While you might not agree with the policies your government has enacted, most people aren't willing to take these risks. If you aren't extremely careful, even the most basic monitoring systems will easily detect your activities and you will be caught. I live in the United States (where these instructions are legal), but for many people the risks simply aren't worth the reward—Continue at your own risk.

For those who have chosen to keep reading, I've split this post into 6 sections. Toward the top you'll find simpler and more basic techniques everyone should probably use. As you go down the list, you'll find more advanced topics like secure email services, cryptocurrency information and even a handy intelligence database. Finally, I'll introduce you to the world of censorship-resistant social media so you can share your ideas and connect with others. Buckle up and let's take back your rights to unbiased information and free speech.

A Simple VPN

Depending on how you've managed to find this blog post, you might already be using a VPN and you might already know how easy it can be to detect their use. This is the most common way to get past censorship and content filtering systems, so if you're already familiar with VPNs and their risks, feel free to skip this section and move on. The bottom line is that you might be better off using Tor with a decent pluggable transport. If you want to learn how VPNs operate on a conceptual level, read on for details.

A VPN acts as a gateway between your computer and the rest of the internet. When you correctly connect to a VPN server, your computer forms an encrypted tunnel so that only the VPN server can understand the traffic your computer is sending over the network. Since the VPN server's connection isn't censored, you'll be able to ask the server to make requests for web pages on your behalf. The server then returns the pages you asked for, sending them back to your computer over the encrypted channel.

If you can find a VPN server that isn't blocked in your region, you can ask it to forward your traffic onto the uncensored internet and return any page you request in its unfiltered form. However, it can be easy for government monitoring systems to detect the use of a VPN over their networks. They would then be able to block any traffic destined for that server and even find out the identity of the person who was trying to break the rules.

It's easy to use a VPN but it's also easy to get caught. Also, if you use a VPN that isn't trustworthy (such as a "honeypot" server set up by the government), the VPN might censor your traffic or even spy on your online activities. It's important to use a VPN server you trust. If you can, ensure your identity won't be connected with the use of the VPN—Even better, use Tor instead. I won't make any VPN recommendations here, but if you go this route, use your discretion and find a trustworthy provider.

Tor Browser

The Onion Router ("Tor") is an anonymity network that encrypts your traffic and keeps your browsing patterns private. Unlike a VPN, the network uses at least three servers which bounce your requests between them before they finally make their way onto the uncensored internet. This adds additional protection for your content. Since the traffic goes through more than one server, you don't need to put as much trust in the people running the Tor servers.

One thing you DO need to do though—and this applies to VPN usage as well—is to make sure your activities aren't associated with your real identity. Even if your network traffic is encrypted, you need to make sure no one can learn your true identity from the services you use while you're online. If someone can learn who you are, none of the protection that Tor provides will provide no security. Avoid things like using social media (under your real name), logging into personal email accounts or revealing other information that would reveal your name or address to others.

In terms of detectability, it's still relatively straightforward for someone to listen for connections to Tor over their network. Unless other precautions are taken, your use of Tor is fairly obvious. Connections to any server can always be blocked and interrupted. The only way to get around this is to masquerade your Tor traffic using another protocol. Check out the Obfuscated Bridges section below for more information about how you can go about setting this up.

If you'd like to install Tor on your computer (make sure you take precautions to prevent it from being found), you can visit the torproject.org website. However, before you do this you should probably consider using Tails to avoid leaving traces on your system, which is also covered in a later section of this post.

Tor Browser with Obfuscated Bridges

Normally, when you use the Tor browser to connect to the internet the traffic sent from your computer follows a common pattern. This distinct signature is unique to Tor and has become easily detectable by censorship systems. While the censors probably won't be able to read the Tor traffic and see your browsing activities, just knowing that you use Tor is enough to block the connection. Depending on where you live, it might also be enough for an arrest warrant.

Tor bridges and pluggable transports are a way to obfuscate and camouflage the traffic as it enters the Tor network. While it's never possible to evade detection completely, using a pluggable transport in conjunction with a Tor bridge will reduce the likelihood that your use of Tor is discovered or blocked. Furthermore, changing your Tor bridge and pluggable transport frequently will also help mitigate risk.

A complete list of Tor bridges aren't public and new pluggable transports are always being developed. The best pluggable transports are both new and obscure, and the best Tor bridges are unlikely to be noticed or blocked by censors. Use your social network to find bridges you trust. To learn more on the Tor website, check out this page.

Tails Operating System

The most trusted VPN and the most anonymous Tor connection won't protect you if the computer you use is discovered with any evidence of your activities. Even if there's no proof of the websites you visit, the fact that the Tor browser or VPN software is installed might be enough to get you into serious trouble depending on where you live. The easier it is to discover your online activities, the more likely you are to be caught. Keeping your computer free from such evidence is as important as staying undetected in the first place.

The idea behind Tails is that when you use the uncensored web, you reboot your computer into a new operating system dedicated to that specific purpose. This operating system is completely amnesic, meaning that it will not save records of your files or activities without your explicit permission to do so. Once the computer powers down, all records are fully erased. While it is possible to use a persistent volume to store some of your files, I won't recommend this for most new users.

The Tails operating system is stored on a flash drive, SD card or other small storage device that can be easily removed from the computer. Once removed, the only evidence remains on the drive itself and the computer is left completely unchanged from its original state. As always, hardware-based keystroke loggers and other physical surveillance measures will still require consideration, but using Tails will greatly reduces the trail of evidence you leave in your wake.

You still need to keep your Tails disk safe and avoid letting others discover that it belongs to you. If you use your own computer, you should occasionally boot the normal (non-Tails) operating system and use the computer for some innocuous purpose to avoid suspicion. You should assume that anyone who examines your Tails disk will suspect you of wrongful behavior.

Creating a Tails disk involves downloading the disk image, verifying the disk image signature and copying the disk image to the target disk with software such as Rufus. Once the disk is ready, you can reboot the computer with the disk plugged in and select the disk from the available boot options. Depending on the system you use, it may be necessary to press F12, DEL or some other key during the boot process to start the computer from the flash drive instead of its internal hard drive.

Tails come with a set of useful applications for web browsing, composing documents and completing various other tasks. You should read this article about using Tor bridges with Tails before you start Tails if Tor traffic would be suspicious in your region. In summary, you should always configure obfuscated Tor bridges from the Tails welcome screen and you should only use bridges from people you trust.

Secure Email Services

Once you're able to connect to the internet without censorship or filtering (ideally with Tor running on Tails and a frequently-rotated Tor bridge that uses obfuscation), you can begin to use the internet without restrictions. You must be careful never to reveal your identity to others to avoid being detected or tracked. However, if you wish to sign up for online services that require registration (such as Quora or Reddit), you'll need a secure email address.

ProtonMail offers an encrypted email service you can use to sign up for services online. You can also use other email services, just make sure not to let them learn your real name or address. Make sure your email address can't be traced back to you and be sure someone couldn't guess your identity from your online activities.

With a pseudonymous online identity, you can browse freely and participate in online discussions. You can ask questions, learn programming or engage in almost any other activity you wish. Don't get complacent and always remember the risks you've taken to establish your online presence. Eventually you'll probably make online friends and perhaps collaborate with others for content creation or software projects. It's up to you how much information you share with the people you come to trust, but from personal experience I should implore you to tread carefully.

The tips in the above sections should be enough for most people looking to break into the digital landscape and benefit from what the unfiltered internet has to offer. If you use Tor and exercise good judgment, you'll set yourself up for the highest probability of success—even when your own government wants you to fail.

The next sections cover more advanced topics—things most people won't need but that might be useful to be aware of depending on your situation. Read on if you'd like to acquire a deeper understanding (and, consequently, a bigger target on your back.)

Strategic Intelligence Network (SIN)

The strategic intelligence network is a little-known repository of books, maps and other documents from which you can learn anything from computer networking to cryptography to physical security and personal privacy techniques. The library is quite comprehensive and you can acquire a fairly well-rounded education simply by reading the various topics at random. Some of my favorites include titles by Kevin Mitnick and JJ Luna.

If information in your region is censored (or if you're afraid your society is headed in that direction in the near future), you might grab a copy of this extremely useful database. Just make sure you store it on an encrypted drive and take other precautions you think reasonable.

The database can be hard to track down and different people maintain various versions with different information. As of this writing, the most reliable link I've found is this one, but it might not work depending on where and when you try to access it. As always, you should build and rely on your personal network of trusted friends to get you the most up-to-date and accurate information.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a sure way to piss off most freedom-hating dictators because it directly threatens their ability to assert control over their nation's money supply. This makes it extremely risky to use cryptocurrency in some regions across the world. Some countries have created "national cryptocurrencies" which they control, but those currencies are controlled exclusively by the government and are not decentralized.

When I say cryptocurrency, I'm referring to mineable, decentralized cryptocurrencies because they don't have a central authority that issues and distributes the tokens. Cryptocurrencies are useful if your national currency suffers from inflation and you seek a safe place to store your wealth. Also, if you want to fund some on- or offline causes or projects (such as the hosting of websites that promote free speech in your region), you can use cryptocurrencies without government approval. You can check out my intro to crypto to learn a whole lot more. The next section links to a few of my favorite sites and services that accept cryptocurrencies.

Censorship Resistant Platforms

If you ever need to share information in a censorship-resistant way, there are various ways to get the word out about your ideas. The easiest would be simply to purchase a domain and rent a server in a region with strong free speech protections. You'll be able to post to your site and share your content with others. I like Njal.la for this and have used JustHost to run servers, both of whom accept cryptocurrency. Other platforms include AnonymousSpeech for domains and Tutanota for secure email.

For censorship-resistant social media platforms, you should consider Memo.cash and Twetch which use a blockchain to permanently store all your posts and content. This allows you to share some information immutably and see things other people have posted immutably as well. BitPaste lets you embed larger chunks of text and files into the Bitcoin SV blockchain and it's how I published a recent paper.

Conclusion

We've covered a lot in this post—We talked about the basics of internet censorship circumvention, VPNs and Tor. We covered Tails and covering your tracks while using secure email and online services. Finally we covered a useful intelligence database, decentralized money and the ways you can be a leader online without censorship. I hope to bring as many people as possible into the permissionless world of free information and free speech.

If this post has helped you take back your rights, if you found it interesting or learned something new, please share it with your friends. The more people with this kind of knowledge, the less power unscrupulous leaders will be allowed to hold over the human spirit.