Operation Collateral Freedom unblocks nearly 50 censored news sites for citizens in Russia and China
To combat censorship and guarantee that citizens worldwide have access to diverse, reliable sources of information, Operation Collateral Freedom – a project by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) – has unblocked nearly 50 media outlets censored by China and Russia by creating mirror websites. To honour the International Day for Universal Access to Information on 28 September, RSF presents the impact of this operation.
Thanks to Operation Collateral Freedom, RSF currently enables 23 media outlets censored in Russia and 25 outlets blocked in China to continue broadcasting independent, reliable information to the public.
Developed by RSF, the technology behind the mirror sites is continually updated and has proven its ability to dent the efforts of two notoriously repressive states who seek to erase all journalistic information from their online networks, whether it comes from national or foreign media.
“With Operation Collateral Freedom, RSF is concretely protecting the right of citizens in closed countries to access reliable information produced by journalistic media. Despite the increasingly sophisticated tactics employed by enemies of press freedom, we are developing the technology necessary to bring reliable, quality information to the screens of societies under repressive rule. Authoritarian regimes want to lock their citizens in a propaganda bubble, while we fight back by providing access to reliable information produced by media outlets producing real journalism.”
“Operation Collateral Freedom constantly adapts to new threats, thanks to the creativity of its community of engineers and developers around the world. This international cooperation allows us to develop innovative and efficient tools to defend citizens’ right to access journalistic information.”
7,000 mirror sites created in one year
The Russian state is equipped with a legislative and technological arsenal, a “golden shield” inspired by Chinese techniques to padlock its information space. Independent Russian media are gradually labelled “undesirable” and blocked on the Russian internet, known as the Runet. Meduza, one of the most influential exiled Russian media outlets, has been blocked since March 2022, shortly after Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moscow Times, meanwhile, was banned in July 2024. These two news outlets benefit from the support of Operation Collateral Freedom, and their mirror sites receive over 400,000 and 200,000 visitors per month, respectively. In one year, RSF created over 7,000 mirror sites for media blocked in Russia, including 5,400 for Meduza alone.
"At The Moscow Times, we've been using Collateral Freedom for two years, and it's proved very effective in enabling our Russian-based audience to access our content. Access to plural and independent information is crucial for our fellow citizens in Russia. So, thanks to RSF, Moscow Times is able to bring pluralism and independent journalism to fuel debate within Russia itself and for all Russian citizens."
Upholding the right to information in China
In 2023, RSF entered into a standoff with China, one of the most repressive countries in the world for journalism and the right to information. Through Operation Collateral Freedom, RSF created mirror sites for ten Chinese, Tibetan, and Hong Kongese media censored within mainland China. Less than two years later, this number has more than doubled: Twenty-five news sites currently use Operation Collateral Freedom’s technology to overcome the “Great Firewall of China,” one of the most sophisticated systems of digital censorship and control in the world, which was strengthened when President Xi Jinping came to power. Through these mirror sites, Chinese citizens can now access multimedia content covering increasingly taboo topics in China, such as political news, social conflicts, and the human rights violations carried out by the Beijing regime. Dasheng Media, a new multimedia news site, is one of the outlets using Operation Collateral Freedom to provide Chinese citizens with independent journalism:
“We believe that all people deserve open and uncensored access to high-quality content. The Collateral Freedom initiative provides a valuable setting for communities to collaborate and break down the barriers that restrict access to information, enabling new ways of connecting and creating content for Chinese audiences both inside and outside China.”
An international operation
Operation Collateral Freedom makes it possible to circumvent censorship in every country where the press is blocked online. The list of sites unblocked by RSF, updated in real-time, is accessible on the operation's Github page, unless the media must remain anonymous for security reasons. The Belarusian outlet Belarus in Focus, Iranian media such as Iranwire, and several Guinean websites – including Guinée matin and Mosaïque Guinée – were among the websites Operation Collateral Freedom unblocked in 2023 and 2024.
