With the World Economic Forum declaring “Misinformation” as the #1 global threat for 2024 we worked with The True Story (https://thetruestory.news/en) to launch Undo the Firewall — aimed at countering internet censorship in Russia.
In 2023, Russia censored and blocked an estimated 1 million websites globally - including every independent news site and global social media platforms like X, Instagram, and Facebook.
Currently, Russians can still freely visit foreign websites for gaming, information, e-commerce, etc. This allows website owners globally to actively contribute to the fight against censorship and misinformation. The process is simple—a website owner can copy and paste a small code snippet onto their sites, available at undothefirewall.com. When a visitor with Russian language settings accesses the site, a pop-up displaying uncensored news stories automatically appears, providing unfiltered perspectives on current events.
Undo the Firewall aims to puncture the information barrier imposed by a system that uses technology to stifle its people through censorship and centralization of news and information. By giving any website owner the power to help undo the firewall and expose real news from every angle, this initiative seeks to empower everyone willing to participate.
The campaign was launched on the 29th of January and was featured across a variety of publications and social media. Most importantly, over 6% of the visitors that have gone to the website have copied the code.
This campaign is not a one-off - we are in it for the long haul - and as long as the internet is still accessible in Russia - we are able to get uncensored news to the Russian public.