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Internet censorship in Syria

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Internet censorship in Ba'athist Syria is extensive; with numerous websites and online platforms being banned for political reasons. Internet usage is authorized only through state-run servers and people accessing through other means are arrested.[1][2] Filtering and blocking was found to be pervasive in the political and Internet tools areas, and selective in the social and conflict/security areas by the OpenNet Initiative in August 2009.[2]

After the mass protests of the Syrian revolution in 2011, the government of Bashar al-Assad has intensified cyber-surveillace measures and internet blockades across Syria.[3] Internet connectivity between Syria and the outside world shut down in late November 2011,[4] and again in early May 2013.[5] Syria is one of the five countries on the Reporters Without Borders organization's March 2013 list of "State Enemies of the Internet".[6] Syria's Internet was cut off more than ten times in 2013, and again in March 2014.[7][8]

Access to online information in Syria is tightly controlled by cyber surveillance facilities affiliated with the Assad government.[9] While it is possible for users to bypass blocks through proxy apps, Syrian cyber forces use tracking software to identify the IP addresses of such users.[10] While many sites such as TikTok remain blocked as of 2024, many more are inaccessible due to sanctions or IP restrictions from the websites themselves. As of November 2024, Wikipedia is accessible without using a proxy.

Overview

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Syria has been on Reporters Without Borders' Enemy of the Internet list since 2006 when the list was established.[11] In 2009, the committee to Protect Journalists named Syria number three in a list of the ten worst countries in which to be a blogger, given the arrests, harassment, and restrictions which online writers in Syria faced.[12] In May 2012 the committee to Protect Journalists named Syria the third most censored country in the world, saying:[13]

In its campaign to silence media coverage, the government disabled mobile phones, landlines, electricity, and the Internet. Authorities have routinely extracted passwords of social media sites from journalists through beatings and torture. The pro-government online group the Syrian Electronic Army has frequently hacked websites to post pro-regime material, and the government has been implicated in malware attacks targeted at those reporting on the crisis.

In addition to filtering a wide range of Web content, the Syrian government monitors Internet use very closely and has detained citizens "for expressing their opinions or reporting information online." Vague and broadly worded laws invite government abuse and have prompted Internet users to engage in self-censorship to avoid the state's ambiguous grounds for arrest.[2][14]

The transfer of online information in Syria is tightly controlled by cyber infrastructure facilities affiliated with the Assad government. Assad government's online censorship policies range from drastic reduction of internet speed to total blackouts of internet and cellular networks.[15]

History

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Late 2000s

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After winning the 2007 presidential election in Syria with 99.82% of the declared votes, Bashar al-Assad implemented numerous measures that further intensified political and cultural repression.[16] Numerous journalists were arrested and independent press centres were shut down. Syrian government also intensifed its censorship of the Internet; banning access to more than 200 websites, including sites such as Wikipedia, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Spotify, Google Play, LinkedIn, DeviantArt, PayPal, Netflix, Scratch, etc. Internet centres were allowed to operate only after the prior authorization of Syrian surveillance agencies. In 2007, the Syrian government enacted a law that forced Internet cafes to keep records of all online comments posted by users in chat forums, as well as their browsing habits. Several individuals who used internet cafes were arrested and reports emerged of the existence of specialized prison centres that detained individuals accused of "internet crimes".[17][18]

In August 2007 YouTube was blocked after videos circulated denouncing the crackdown on the Kurd minority.[19][20]

In November 2007 the Syrian government blocked Facebook, explaining that the website promoted attacks on authorities. The Facebook ban, like the ban of most websites, was not entirely effective and many people were able to maintain access using open proxies or other circumvention techniques.[21][22]

From 30 April 2008 to the present (23 October 2013) the Arabic Wikipedia has been blocked.[23][24] Syrian journalist Waed al-Mahna, an activist for archaeological preservation, was sentenced imprisonment via absentia in 2008 over an online article that criticized Syrian Ministry of Culture's policy to destroy a heritage site in Old Damascus.[25]

Early 2010s

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In February 2011 Syria stopped filtering YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.[19][20]

Early in the Syrian civil war on 3 June 2011 the government shut down the country's Internet network. Although fully restored the following day, the country's 3G, DSL and dial-up were disconnected the same day massive protests and marches were being organized throughout the country to call for the removal of President Bashar al-Assad and for "Children's Friday", to honor children who had died during the uprisings.[26]

On 26 July 2011 the website the-syrian.com, a site dedicated to "granting freedom of speech to everyone, whether against or with the regime",[27] was blocked from within Syria.[28] The site is mostly in Arabic and targeted to Syrian audiences, although it has an English section.[29][better source needed] A graph that appeared in the Wall Street Journal shows the number of blocked access attempts to the-Syrian.com and other sites between August 1 and 5 2011.[30]

In October 2011 US based Blue Coat Systems of Sunnyvale, California acknowledged that Syria is using its devices to censor Web activity, a possible violation of US trade embargoes. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal information about Blue Coat in Syria began to trickle out in August, after a "hacktivist" group called Telecomix managed to gain access to unsecured servers on Syria's Internet systems and found evidence of Blue Coat filtering. The group found computer records, or logs, detailing which Web pages the Blue Coat devices were censoring in Syria.[31]

In June 2012 the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reported that pro-Syrian-government malware campaigns have increased in frequency and sophistication and that a new Trojan distributed as a .pif file via Skype targets Syrian activists. The malware gives an attacker the ability to execute arbitrary code on the infected computer. Evidence suggests that this campaign is being carried out by the same pro-Syrian-government hackers responsible for previous attacks. The new Trojan is one in a series used to attack Syrian opposition activists that includes several Trojans, one disguised as a Skype encryption tool, which covertly install spying software onto the infected computer, as well as a multitude of phishing attacks which steal YouTube and Facebook login credentials.[32][33][34]

On July 19, 2012, Internet access from Syria traveling via the state carrier Syrian Telecommunications Establishment was cut off for a period of 40 minutes.[35]

On 29 November 2012, almost all Internet connectivity between Syria and the outside world was cut off[4][36] at around 12:00 to 13:00 UTC+02:00 (local time).[37] This coincided with intense rebel activity inside Syria.[4] In 2014, Edward Snowden alleged that the NSA was responsible.[38]

The Syrian Internet blackout was a break in Syria's Internet connectivity that happened for nineteen hours between 7 and 8 May 2013. Mobile phone and telephone services were also cut. No-one yet has admitted responsibility for the event or can figure out how it happened. The Syrians blamed Cyberterrorists for the incident. It caused worry that the blackout was intended to mask an impending military offensive.[39][40]

Syria is one of the five countries on the Reporters Without Borders organization's March 2013 list of "State Enemies of the Internet", countries ruled by governments that perpetrate pervasive surveillance of news providers, resulting in harsh restrictions on access to information and personal lives. Assad government's cyberforces engage in several social engineering techniques and online surveillance measures such as phishing, internet blackouts, malware attacks, interception of Skype calls, etc.[41] Syria's Internet was cut off more than ten times in 2013, and again in March 2014.[7][8]

Syrian Electronic Army (SEA)

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The Syrian Electronic Army, also known as the Syrian Electronic Soldiers, is a collection of pro-government computer hackers aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) is the first public, virtual army in the Arab world to openly launch cyber attacks on its opponents,[42] though the precise nature of its relationship with the Syrian government is debated.[43]

The SEA claims responsibility for defacing or otherwise compromising hundreds of websites that it contends spread news hostile to the Syrian government. These include news websites such as BBC News, the Associated Press, National Public Radio, Al Jazeera, Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph,[44] Syrian satellite broadcaster Orient TV, and Dubai-based al-Arabia TV,[45] as well as rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch.[46] Other SEA targets include VoIP apps, such as Viber, and Tango.

The group reportedly uses phishing tactics to gain sufficient information to compromise accounts.[47][48] In the first week of May 2013, the Twitter account of The Onion was compromised by the SEA, after a phishing attack targeting The Onion employees led to its account being compromised.[49]

In addition to the high-profile defacement and attacks on public targets, the SEA also carries out surveillance to discover the identities and location of Syrian rebels. This electronic monitoring also reportedly extends to foreign aid workers.[43]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Freedom in the World 2006" (PDF). Freedom House. 2005-12-16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-07-13. Retrieved 2006-07-27.See also Freedom in the World 2006, List of indices of freedom
  2. ^ a b c "ONI Country Profile: Syria", OpenNet Initiative, August 2009
  3. ^ The Enemies of the Internet Special Edition : Surveillance Archived 31 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Reporters Without Borders, 12 March 2013
  4. ^ a b c Thomson, Iain (29 November 2012). "Syria cuts off internet and mobile communications". The Register. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  5. ^ "Syrian state media blames countrywide Internet outage on problem with fiber optics cable". Washington Post. 8 May 2013. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  6. ^ The Enemies of the Internet Special Edition : Surveillance Archived 31 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Reporters Without Borders, 12 March 2013
  7. ^ a b "Syria Hit by Widespread Internet Outage", Sharon Gaudin, Computer World, 21 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Syria hit with a near nationwide Internet outage for seven plus hours", Andrea Peterson, Washington Post, 20 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  9. ^ "Enemies of the Internet 2014" (PDF). rsf.org. Reporters Without Borders. 12 March 2014. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 March 2018.
  10. ^ al-Ibrahim, Mokhtar (7 April 2021). "Censorship In Syria: A Double 'Virtual' Penalty". Archived from the original on 1 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Internet Enemies: Syria" Archived 2011-05-18 at the Wayback Machine, Reporters Without Borders, March 2011
  12. ^ "10 Worst Countries to be a Blogger", Committee to Protect Journalists, 30 April 2009
  13. ^ "10 Most Censored Countries", Committee to Protect Journalists, 2 May 2012
  14. ^ "Syrian jailed for internet usage". BBC News. 21 June 2004.
  15. ^ "Enemies of the Internet 2014" (PDF). rsf.org. Reporters Without Borders. 12 March 2014. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 March 2018.
  16. ^ Flock, Elizabeth (15 March 2011). "Syria revolution: A revolt brews against Bashar al- Assad's regime". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  17. ^ "Predators: Bashar Al-Assad". Reporters Without Borders. Archived from the original on 8 May 2010.
  18. ^ Sands, Phil (30 September 2008). "Syria tightens control over internet". The National. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020.
  19. ^ a b "الغاء الحجب عن موقع "فيسبوك" في سورية (Syrian government abolishes bans on "Facebook" and "YouTube")" (in Arabic). D Press News. 8 February 2011. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2011. (English translation)
  20. ^ a b The Next Web Middle East (8 February 2011). "Facebook and YouTube to Be Unblocked in Syria Today". Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  21. ^ Yacoub Oweis, Khaled (23 November 2007). "Syria blocks Facebook in Internet crackdown". Reuters. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
  22. ^ "Syrian gov't blocks use of Facebook". The Jerusalem Post. 24 November 2007. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2008.
  23. ^ Institute for War and Peace Reporting (3 June 2008). "Syrian youth break through internet blocks". Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  24. ^ (in Arabic) Arabic Wikipedia Disappears From The Internet in Syria Archived 2019-06-21 at the Wayback Machine (English translation)
  25. ^ "Syrian journalist held incommunicado, another on trial". Committee to Protect Journalists. 22 April 2009. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021.
  26. ^ "Syria Utilizes “Kill Switch” as Internet Freedom Debate Heats Up" Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine, Rosemary D'Amour, BroadbandBreakfast.com, 17 June 2011
  27. ^ "About us" Archived 2016-12-19 at the Wayback Machine, The-Syrian, accessed 2 July 2012
  28. ^ "Mr. President ... Why ...", The-Syrian, 27 June 2011
  29. ^ Review of English.the-syrian.com on webstatsdomain.com
  30. ^ "Censorship in Syria: Attempts to Access Web Pages", Interactive graphic, Wall Street Journal, 29 October 2011
  31. ^ "U.S. Firm Acknowledges Syria Uses Its Gear to Block Web", Jennifer Valentino-Devries, Paul Sonne, and Nour Malas, Wall Street Journal, 29 October 2011
  32. ^ "New Trojan Spread Over Skype as Cat and Mouse Game Between Syrian Activists and Pro-Syrian-Government Hackers Continues", Eva Galperin and Morgan Marquis-Boire, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), 19 June 2012
  33. ^ " Fake YouTube Site Targets Syrian Activists With Malware", Eva Galperin and Morgan Marquis-Boire, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), 15 March 2012
  34. ^ "How to Find and Protect Yourself Against the Pro-Syrian-Government Malware on Your Computer", Eva Galperin and Morgan Marquis-Boire, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), 5 March 2012
  35. ^ Doug Madory (2012-07-19). "Syria Briefly Disconnects". Renesys. Archived from the original on 2012-07-20. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  36. ^ "Syrian Internet Is Off The Air". Renesys. Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  37. ^ "Syria's internet cutoff easy to spot". The Guardian. 2012-11-29. Archived from the original on 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
  38. ^ "Snowden: NSA accidentally caused Syria's internet blackout in 2012", Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian, 13 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  39. ^ "Syria internet outage over, state news agency says, Cellphone and phone services had also been down in many areas", CBC News (Associated Press), 8 May 2013
  40. ^ "Syrian internet back after 19-hour blackout", BBC News, 8 May 2013
  41. ^ The Enemies of the Internet Special Edition : Surveillance Archived 31 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Reporters Without Borders, 12 March 2013
  42. ^ Noman, Helmi. "The Emergence of Open and Organized Pro-Government Cyber Attacks in the Middle East: The Case of the Syrian Electronic Army". Open Net Initiative. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  43. ^ a b Perlroth, Nicole (17 May 2013). "Hunting for Syrian Hackers' Chain of Command". New York Times. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  44. ^ Love, Dylan (22 May 2013). "10 Reasons to Worry About the Syrian Electronic Army". Business Insider. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  45. ^ "Syrian Electronic Army: Disruptive Attacks and Hyped Targets", OpenNet Initiative, 25 June 2011
  46. ^ "NPR.org Hacked; 'Syrian Electronic Army' Takes Responsibility". NPR. 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
  47. ^ Sarah Fowler "Who is the Syrian Electronic Army?", BBC News, 25 April 2013
  48. ^ Alex Spillus "Who is the Syrian Electronic Army?", telegraph.co.uk, 24 April 2013
  49. ^ "How the Syrian Electronic Army Hacked The Onion", Tech Team, The Onion, 8 May 2013
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