Kazakhstan: Another Internet Media Blocked
The Kazakhstani Internet portal HOLA News was blocked. For more than two days, users cannot access the website.
According to Zarina Akhmatova, editor-in-chief of HOLA News, the site is not available through all major providers in Kazakhstan: Kazakhtelecom, Kcell, Beeline, TELE2.
“Our users abroad are also denied access to the site, since the site server, according to Kazakhstani legislation, is located in Kazakhstan. Program administrators of the site have been trying all this time to find out and eliminate the reasons. The hosting provider of the site, PS.kz, responded to the site’s request as follows: “(…) No blocking actions were made from our side. The disconnection occurs from the side of the providers providing a connection to the network. ” We turned to telecom operators to find out the reasons, but still haven’t received answers, ”Akhmatova said.
According to her, programmers, as well as site consultants, argue that such an attack refers to the so-called DPI blocking (Deep Packet Inspection) – a technology for checking and filtering network packets.
“The technical specialists involved in analyzing the problem told us the following:“ The inaccessibility of the holanews.kz resource is caused by the blocking of the 443-port of the IP address at the provider level. Using DPI technology. Confirmation of this is that open DPI bypass tools allow you to connect to the site ”(proof is at the disposal of the editors). Similar locks were used in neighboring Russia to restrict access to content, information about this and the details of this type of restriction to content is easy to find in the public domain upon request. The technology allows you to analyze the content of information transmitted between users and sites and restrict access to it, ”the editor-in-chief of the portal emphasized.
At the same time, she noted that the editorial office of the site, despite the blocking, continues to work, spreading news through the site’s social media accounts.
“In the past few weeks, the site has been subjected to various attacks several times, but all this time we have been able to repel them and continue to work. The editorial policy has always been based on the basic values of journalism: independence, objectivity, ethics, accuracy, and efficiency. Our mission is to provide our audience with accurate and truthful information that cannot be influenced by anyone outside, including advertisers or government officials. At the same time, our editorial staff always followed the letter of the law and tried to draw attention not to the difficulties of work, but socially important information, ”Akhmatova says.
She also noted that the editorial office is forced to appeal to readers and advertisers, to whom there are both moral and financial obligations, and report the problem. “We continue to work as long as possible,” the editor-in-chief concluded.
It should be noted that HOLA News is the fastest-growing online media in Kazakhstan. In 2020, the site entered the traditional Forbes rating “30 under 30 – Asia”.
