Syria Blocks the Word “Proxy”

SMN No. 13, February 1, 2011

A Syrian blogger has reported that the authorities have blocked all sites containing the word “Proxy”, as well as barring all internet searches for the same term.

Anas Online wrote on January 31 that while until now Syria had previously individually blocked sites which provided the use of a proxy server – often used to help bypass internet censorship – they have now turned to blocking sites which contain the word, rather than sifting the thousands of sites that provide the service.

He added that this ban had been put into effect on the search for the word proxy in all search engines, for example, “proxy server” or “proxy list”.
Most Syrian internet users use proxy sites to break the censorship imposed on hundreds of websites by the Syrian authorities, including the social networking site Facebook and youtube