Keeping the Internet Open

Join the Open Technology Fund, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab on Wednesday, May 17 at 10:00 a.m. ET for “Keeping the Internet Open: Countering Censorship in an Era of Russia-China Digital Cooperation,” a conversation about what Russian and Chinese censorship cooperation means for the United States and other democracies, and what policymakers should know going forward.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, authoritarian governments have intensified their efforts to crack down on independent media and restrict their citizens’ access to uncensored information in the digital space. Reporting by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) shows how Russia and China are collaborating on internet censorship, exchanging tactics to monitor dissent, disrupt circumvention tools like VPNs and Tor, undermine encryption to surveil users, and regulate and distort online message boards. Together, they are perfecting the playbook for authoritarian control of the digital world, with potential repercussions that extend far beyond their borders.

A small but growing network of international journalists, legal experts, and security technologists are at the forefront of pushing back against authoritarian censorship of the internet. Using cutting-edge technologies and a deep understanding of audiences in closed media spaces, these voices are developing and deploying new censorship circumvention techniques to help people access accurate, truthful news and information and keep the internet open.