We all know some countries heavenly censor what their Internet users are allowed to see. The reasons are many. Some point out the mistakes of the Great Dictator (or “Liberator”, as they usually call themselves) or critize the annexion of territories or denounce the use of torture (sorry, this should read “physical pressure”) by the regime, etc. Usually, this means censoring newspapers, civil liberties association web sites, usually hosted outside the country.
Over here in democratic countries, we are often well intentioned in trying to help those who cannot access all information to still be able to. It usually takes the form of letting your computer act as a relay for the person wishing to access those banned sites. There are different technologies, one of them being Psiphon.
Forbes has an interesting story on the unwanted side effects of letting a remote individual use your connection to access banned content. According to Forbes, the Psiphon network is often used not so much to read the web sites of the likes of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Guardian or the Washington Post, but also to access porn sites.
This has led some people to leave the Psiphon network, because they do not think they should offer bandwidth for looking at porn material.
Fair enough, but one hypothesis the Forbes story did not investigate is that those regimes which censor might be willing to poison the system itself. Rather than trying to block the use of the relaying technology by technical means, they may find it easier to fill the Psiphon network with fake porn lovers, thus disgusting those who offer uncensored access. A quite effective way to prevent their citizens to access the full Internet.
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