How To
How to avoid censorship by changing browsers
- December 5, 2018
- Updated: March 7, 2024 at 5:38 PM
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) monitor your web activity.
Government, law enforcement, or political pressure can force ISPs to restrict the content you see, effectively censoring the internet.
They might also do it in accordance with their own ideologies, filtering content to support their vision for a better world, whether you agree with it or not.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
The Co-Founder of Mozilla has developed a new browser that lets you stay anonymous while browsing the web.
It’s called Brave.
Brave uses sophisticated anti-snooping technology, including spyware, adware, and tracker blocking features to hide you from prying eyes.
Better yet, Brave’s servers hold none of your data, so even if it wanted to snoop, it can’t. It’s designed to keep you in control of your data at all times.
Why censorship is a problem
The effects of censorship are reasonably well-known. It’s been held responsible for the polarization of society, for our social media echo chambers, and the tribalism we see on the internet today. It also makes it harder for journalists and activists to report news that paints established authority in a bad light, and lets totalitarian leaders keep a tight grip on power in repressive regimes.
Censorship doesn’t always work, either. Due to the Streisand Effect, censorship can backfire in a really big way. Ever told a child they can’t watch TV? Yep, it doesn’t always have the effect you intended.
Censorship isn’t always about blocking access. It’s also about filtering access. ISPs aren’t the only ones that can censor content – your web browser or search engine might do it too. The biggest tech companies in the world (Facebook, Google, Amazon, and so on) know so much about you, they can use that information to manipulate your web experience.
Sometimes this is a good thing, and perhaps they have good intentions. Knowing what we like to buy, eat, watch, or where we like to travel means they can shape the internet according to your own tastes. But if you’re looking for something they, or the influencers behind them, dislike, they might also selectively display or prioritise content to influence your opinion.
How Brave helps fight against censorship
Brave wants a free, open web for everyone.
That means offering a web browser that doesn’t care who you are, where you’re from, or what you do, and won’t pass your data to third parties.
You stay in complete control of your browsing data at all times, until you delete it from your device.
Brave has also partnered with Tor (The Onion Router) on its new ultra-secure Private Tabs with Tor. These browsing tabs introduce a new layer of security not yet seen on any of the more conventional web browsers.
Tor takes all communications between you and a website and relays it across an international network of servers, encrypting and hiding the data so no-one knows what it is or where it came from.
Avoid censorship by using all Brave’s privacy features
If you want to ensure you’re getting a full, unrestricted web experience, then try these Brave tricks:
1) Keep DuckDuckGo as your default Brave search engine. It doesn’t record any of your data.
Go to Settings > Search engine > Ensure DuckDuckGo is selected from the dropdown menu.
2) Always use Private Tabs with Tor, unless you’re happy to pass on data to trusted sites.
Click the three horizontal lines to the right of the URL bar > select New Private Window with Tor.
3) Keep Brave’s global shields settings at their default levels, or for extra protection, block all cookies and disable scripts.
Go to Settings > Global shields settings > enable all
The internet should belong to everyone, not an elite few. See the web in all its glory by downloading and installing Brave today.
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