How Activists Bypass Russian Censorship Using BitTorrent

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A team of Ukrainian cyber activists has found a clever solution to circumvent the censorship in place in Russia. It packs prohibited documents and videos into Torrent files.

A few months ago, the “Call Russia” initiative was launched on the Web to fight against Kremlin propaganda. This operation, which consisted of randomly phoning Russian households to reveal to them the reality of the “special military operation” launched by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, had unfortunately been quickly blocked by the Russian State. But Ukrainian activists may have found a more difficult parry to bypass censorship and disseminate uncensored information widely to Russians.

“Torrents of Truth”

Named ” Torrents of Truth This operation exploits the BitTorrent peer-to-peer sharing protocol to spread uncensored information to Russian hackers. To be more precise, it consists of packaging, in a torrent file, text files replacing the installation instructions. These contain a list of reliable sources of information that Russians can trust. They also provide instructions on how to download and install a VPN to secure their internet connection and hide their online activities from their internet service provider.

These torrents also embed videos showing the extent of the damage and damage caused in Ukraine by the war that Russia is waging. The country’s media, mostly controlled by the government, likes to present this war as an operation to liberate Ukraine from the Nazis.

In recent months, the use of pirated software has exploded in Russia, with the tolerance of the Kremlin. With the many sanctions put in place by Western companies, Russians are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain licenses from software publishers. Unable to renew them, they then turn to cracked versions gleaned from illegal download sites, using the BitTorrent protocol in particular. The same goes for everything related to entertainment: American films or series, which have become unavailable for streaming since the giants of the sector withdrew from the country, continue to be broadcast in the country through illegal downloading. .

© Torrents of Truth

About twenty Torrents concerned

Currently, twenty-one torrent files are actually “Torrents of Truth”. Among these, we find software suites from Adobe, blockbusters like Spider Man No Way Home and The Batman, or even series like Better Call Saul or Euphoria.

© Torrents of Truth

All these Torrents embed the contents of which they bear the title, but in addition conceal the valuable information provided by Ukrainian activists. By making sure to provide the requested content, the risks of their Torrents being flagged as fake and being removed from trackers are limited.

Source :

Bleeping Computer

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