Mozilla, the maker of the popular web browser Firefox, said it received government demands to block add-ons that circumvent censorship.
The Mozilla Foundation, the entity behind the web browser Firefox, is blocking various censorship circumvention add-ons for its browser, including ones specifically to help those in Russia bypass state censorship. The add-ons were blocked at the request of Russia’s federal censorship agency, Roskomnadzor — the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media — according to a statement by Mozilla to The Intercept.
“Following recent regulatory changes in Russia, we received persistent requests from Roskomnadzor demanding that five add-ons be removed from the Mozilla add-on store,” a Mozilla spokesperson told The Intercept in response to a request for comment. “After careful consideration, we’ve temporarily restricted their availability within Russia. Recognizing the implications of these actions, we are closely evaluating our next steps while keeping in mind our local community.”
“It’s a kind of unpleasant surprise because we thought the values of this corporation were very clear in terms of access to information.”
Stanislav Shakirov, the chief technical officer of Roskomsvoboda, a Russian open internet group, said he hoped it was a rash decision by Mozilla that will be more carefully examined.
“It’s a kind of unpleasant surprise because we thought the values of this corporation were very clear in terms of access to information, and its policy was somewhat different,” Shakirov said. “And due to these values, it should not be so simple to comply with state censors and fulfill the requirements of laws that have little to do with common sense.”
Developers of digital tools designed to get around censorship began noticing recently that their Firefox add-ons were no longer available in Russia.
On June 8, the developer of Censor Tracker, an add-on for bypassing internet censorship restrictions in Russia and other former Soviet countries, made a post on the Mozilla Foundation’s discussion forums saying that their extension was unavailable to users in Russia.
The developer of another add-on, Runet Censorship Bypass, which is specifically designed to bypass Roskomnadzor censorship, posted in the thread that their extension was also blocked. The developer said they did not receive any notification from Mozilla regarding the block.
Two VPN add-ons, Planet VPN and FastProxy — the latter explicitly designed for Russian users to bypass Russian censorship — are also blocked. VPNs, or virtual private networks, are designed to obscure internet users’ locations by routing users’ traffic through servers in other countries.
The Intercept verified that all four add-ons are blocked in Russia. If the webpage for the add-on is accessed from a Russian IP address, the Mozilla add-on page displays a message: “The page you tried to access is not available in your region.” If the add-on is accessed with an IP address outside of Russia, the add-on page loads successfully.
Supervision of Communications
Roskomnadzor is responsible for “control and supervision in telecommunications, information technology, and mass communications,” according to the Russia’s federal censorship agency’s English-language page.
In March, the New York Times reported that Roskomnadzor was increasing its operations to restrict access to censorship circumvention technologies such as VPNs. In 2018, there were multiple user reports that Roskomnadzor had blocked access to the entire Firefox Add-on Store.
According to Mozilla’s Pledge for a Healthy Internet, the Mozilla Foundation is “committed to an internet that includes all the peoples of the earth — where a person’s demographic characteristics do not determine their online access, opportunities, or quality of experience.” Mozilla’s second principle in their manifesto says, “The internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible.”
The Mozilla Foundation, which in tandem with its for-profit arm Mozilla Corporation releases Firefox, also operates its own VPN service, Mozilla VPN. However, it is only available in 33 countries, a list that doesn’t include Russia.
The same four censorship circumvention add-ons also appear to be available for other web browsers without being blocked by the browsers’ web stores. Censor Tracker, for instance, remains available for the Google Chrome web browser, and the Chrome Web Store page for the add-on works from Russian IP addresses. The same holds for Runet Censorship Bypass, VPN Planet, and FastProxy.
“In general, it’s hard to recall anyone else who has done something similar lately,” said Shakirov, the Russian open internet advocate. “For the last few months, Roskomnadzor (after the adoption of the law in Russia that prohibits the promotion of tools for bypassing blockings) has been sending such complaints about content to everyone.”
So what they’re essentially said is that they’re gonna follow the rules for now to not be insta-banned, but will consider how to act next given the time they have received.
Which is why it’s important to tell Mozilla it really is a bad choice to follow Russian censors.
welp time to browser hop soon
Unfortunately there are no other options. Literally everything else is Chromium based and ruined by Manifest v3.
Chrome ? Is that you ? Never thought my complete views on chrome would change in an instant .
Imagine being to wishy washy that you can’t even read the article before doing a 180 on your principles.
I did read it and from what I can tell google isn’t bending over like mozzila . I didn’t sell my soul to Mozilla so I don’t have to find a way to justify their Evert shitty behavior like you . I liked them and supported them because they had a vision that aligned with mine and Chrome’s was shitty, but now that they have turned shitty I have no issue calling them out for it unlike fangirls like you .
The thing is, you dont have to sell your soul to Mozilla, with Google on the other hand …
Well I don’t use any Google apps and don’t have a google account but credit where credit is due .
What the actual fuck Mozilla
Every piece of software that’s available in Russia or China has to comply with their laws. Their laws are fucked up. This is also very easy to circumvent.
Their choice is to either block access to a set of add-ons from Russia or to get their whole infrastructure blocked by Roskomnadzor.
Officially, the world is taking the second option in general.
When did that ever happen? GitHub cooperates with Roskomnadzor, Apple cooperates with Roskomnadzor, Google cooperates with Roskomnadzor.
Don’t remember GH cooperating with rkn, but others did it for money. And still do.
Well, time to refresh your memory - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_GitHub scroll down to the section about Russia.
Communication from Roskomnadzor should be censored straight to/dev/null.
Wow, wtf Firefox? Not even Chrome is blocking some of the add-ons…
Guess enshittification is starting to creep into Firefox now too
God I’m getting sick of that word.
I’m sick of the concept it represents.
Yeah me too, but can we not discuss it in a more nuanced and useful way than just shoving this word into every single post on Lemmy?
If things would stop getting shittier, then yes. I’m not entirely sure that it applies here so I understand your annoyance, but you’re seeing “enshittification” everywhere because we’re seeing the practice of enshittification everywhere. I applaud it being called out. We shouldn’t be seeing higher prices for worse experiences, but that’s the current trend. If you’re tired of seeing the word, then it’d probably be a good idea to take a break from c/technology because I don’t think it’s stopping any time soon.
I think we see it so much because kids on the internet think it’s fun to say. It’s dismissive and stifles meaningful conversation.
I think it describes a phenomenon we’ve seen repeated over and over almost without variation. Every single internet service slowly gets shittier as they switch from investment to returning investment. Everything going back to MySpace and Yahoo Spaces went from awesome to abandoned as soon as they started trying to monetize the platform they built. It’s fair to have a word for that and observing the inevitability.
Does it do any good if it is inevitable? I don’t know. The Fediverse seems to be a direct reaction to it, and I’d like to see more.
I don’t disagree that the word should exist, I’m saying it’s become overused to the point of becoming meaningless. Take this entire thread, for instance. This is not enshittification - yet, here we are.
We’re not, though. The word “enshittification” was coined to describe a very specific kind of shittiness, not just a general “I don’t like this development.”
Now that the word is being used in the more general sense, though, we’ve lost a useful way of referring to just that very specific kind of shittiness. We already had plenty of ways to say “I don’t like this development” so this is a net loss for the descriptiveness of language.
Besides, this instance isn’t even enshittification anyway.
Enshittification is when a company makes the user experience worse to squeeze more money out of them. This is just government regulation.
Darlin’, English, like any language, evolves.
Still Mozzila Corporation seem to be trying to earn more money by staying in the Russian market.
If they get kicked out of the Russian market then those extensions wouldn’t be available there anyway.
That’s a stretch.
How else would you explain Mozilla’s decision?
Not really, they’re a for profit company with very little market share and as a result very little wiggle room to, say, be banned from an entire market region
They’re protecting profits over people like so many other companies do. Mozilla Firefox is no savior, they’ll protect their profits just like any other.
Protecting profits isn’t the same as trying to squeeze more profits. If companies were enacting bad policy out of legitimate concern for their business (as is the case here), it wouldn’t necessarily be an issue.
Does the add-on work the same way in Chrome? Or does Google break it in a way similar to uBlock Origin with the WebExtensions v3 update?
Did you read the article? No? Cmon. You should start doing that before drawing conclusions.
This is noted as a temporary block on the specific extensions ONLY within the country with regulatory power to ban Firefox. Russia.
Mozilla has stated this is temporary so they can have the breathing room to figure out how to navigate this. Since this goes against their principles.
It’s either Firefox is banned in Russia, or they do this. Which causes more harm? That’s a rough choice for them to need to make.
Your biggest mistake is trusting the word of a corporation.
If it was a good faith action why would they do it in secret, why not make a post about it and informing everyone before hand about the situation?
For me, all evidence points to them hoping no one would notice and “temporary” would roll over into permanently.
Mozilla is a for-profit company, “temporary” = “quiet permanent” especially coupled with the secrecy and attempts to keep things quiet.
Yea, no, this isn’t going to be “temporary”
This comment aged like milk given they had already lifted the ban.
It has been since proton imo. only one person in my group is still on the base version of the fox, the rest of us have preferred forks.
Not even Chrome is blocking some of the add-ons…
is that something you know for sure? or has Google quietly complied with similar requests, without making a statement like Mozilla has here?
It’s in the article
The same four censorship circumvention add-ons also appear to be available for other web browsers without being blocked by the browsers’ web stores. Censor Tracker, for instance, remains available for the Google Chrome web browser, and the Chrome Web Store page for the add-on works from Russian IP addresses. The same holds for Runet Censorship Bypass, VPN Planet, and FastProxy.
Think about it, pretend you are the Mozilla CEO. You get a
requestdemand from Putin that you block these addons, and you have two options. A) Make a stink and stick to your principles, of which Putin has none, and so you get Firefox banned in Russia altogether. Now, Russians who want to use it cannot, and are forced to use other browsers that Putin can control. or B) Comply with the request, knowing users can still load extensions from the side.Only one of these two options leads to the possibility of Russians being able to use Firefox with these addons, and it’s B.
Oh and fuck Putin, just because.
They chose to comply with the request and become one of the browsers Putin can control. Not sure how Mozilla gets credit for anything good here.
I guess there isn’t a good path here. There never is when Russia is involved. I guess just less bad maybe, I dunno
Firefox was pretty great in 2003 ;-)
people who were using these addons probably had them installed already, so it’ll only affect new users
When should an organisation stop complying with totalitarian governments? First they stop the extensions.
What if they request for Firefox to add site filters, or else?
What if China demands similar bans for extensions related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet etc?
It can go on and on. Some baselines should not be negotiable.
They’ve added a temporary block while they decide what to do.
Anyone have a recommendation for a better service?
Librewolf or Mullvad browser
Do they work with android ?
The closest thing to Librewolf on Android is Mull. Keep in mind that some of the settings are different.
Firefox?
This is only in the country that has regulatory authority, Russian, and is stated as temporary so Mozilla can figure out what to do about it.
Honestly it looks like corpo speak for “we’re waiting for everyone to forget so we can sweep it under the rug”.
I’m surprised I’m typing this but chrome. Getting major villain turning good to do something good very unexpectedly vibe .
Brave browser has been working great.
No. Brave is merely Chrome with extra steps. And it’s associated with lots of “web3” / crypto scams.
I know about Brave. I just didn’t want to crush the poor guys spirit.
Better to crush their spirit now, before it can be misled by lies; so that it can crash and burn and be reborn in the Fire of the Fox, as a Libre Wolf.
Or, if they prefer a more compact fursona, a Fennec.
Don’t use brave if you care about privacy, they claim to be privacy focused but will sell you out the first chance they get (which they already did)
You don’t need one. It is easy to install an xpi in Firefox. The app store isn’t necessary. I.e., no walled garden. I wouldn’t blame Mozilla here.
That’s plain wrong ? Last time I checked you can only do that on developer edition of Firefox otherwise you can only install it as a « temporary extension » that remove itself on next restart. Unless I’m missing something ?
Last time I checked it only made the extension temporsry if the extension wasn’t signed by the developer. If you made your own extension you need to use the developer signing tool on it before installing.
I just checked. Manage Your Extensions -> Install Add-on From File…
Super easy. Am I missing something here? I don’t have any extra restrictions or steps at all. I have Bypass Paywalls Clean installed from a github build without any issue.
well okay, indeed I was wrong it seems tied to signing, however I thought Mozilla revoked that signature once it removed it from their store.
For xpis that are on the store it’s absolutely correct. Which is the case here. It can be downloaded once and redistributed in any way (sneakernet) and installed offline.
Maybe that’s a Windows thing. I haven’t done it in a while. I really just install ublock and ghosterly. Here’s a link to the instructions: https://robots.net/software-and-applications/browsers-and-extensions/how-to-install-xpi-file-in-firefox/
You don’t need one. It is easy to install an xpi in Firefox
[CITATION NEEDED]
The access to install xpis is (irony intended) censored in “retail” Firefox.
Myself, just installed soundfixer via .xpi on windows 10 Firefox.
There is also no such thing as a “retail” Firefox.
Are these only “just” pulled from the online catalog, or the browser itself blocks installation too from file?
If the prior, I don’t really like this action, but my browser won’t change because of it (for now?) and also Mozilla and Firefox served me well in the past almost 20 years since I use it, I trust these guys.
If the latter… that could be a different story.
Are these only “just” pulled from the online catalog, or the browser itself blocks installation too from file?
The Intercept verified that all four add-ons are blocked in Russia. If the webpage for the add-on is accessed from a Russian IP address, the Mozilla add-on page displays a message: “The page you tried to access is not available in your region.” If the add-on is accessed with an IP address outside of Russia, the add-on page loads successfully.
Better than Firefox being blocked in Russia. Addons can be added from files anyway.
And they can be renamed, so the authorities will need to play whack-a-mole.
Contributing to Russian oppression and fascist agenda.
I hope the devs can tweak a few minor things here and there while leaving the most useful functions alone, change the name, slap a new logo on it and be back in business.
But I know nothing about how the censorship and the add-ons to circumvent it work and odds are it won’t be that easy.
But I know nothing about how the censorship and the add-ons to circumvent it work and odds are it won’t be that easy.
Change of name should be enough for legal system.
Thank you for letting me know that :)
Why? Do they have employees that live there?
Probably, or employees’ families maybe?
“That’s a nice little nephew you got there, it would be a shame if something happened to him “.
Maybe if all tech companies told Russia and China to fuck off, they’d all get banned in those two countries, further isolating their citizenry, in hope that those citizens would eventually get fed up and say enough is enough, through whatever means necessary.
I’m sure plenty of Russians and Chinese put up with their governments, but are they willing to become North Koreas?
Not likely from what I’ve read the majority of russians don’t have flushing toilets. So the internet is probably a few notches down on the whole basic needs thing.
I see a lot of gentle replies. I wonder if they would have looked the same if the browser in question was Google Chrome. The issue is that you can’t win this game. They ask you one thing, then another, then another, until you either fully comply or stop cooperating, and they block you anyway. That’s a reputational hit for the company and its product, whose only competitive advantage was its reputation.
I mean, I’m not ditching Firefox over this.
Well said and a good reminder to keep our loyalties / fanboyisms in check
Mozilla fanboy here, this feels like an absolute diversion from the mission. They should have at least notified the community and devs some how, delayed the best they could, and then ban them to prevent being censored too. They better fight it or at empower someone that can (both technical circumvention attempts and legal rectification).
It’s a handful of addons (open source, available to be added via files) rather than the whole browser that are now available in Russia. Seems better to cut loss there and remain available as long as a workaround exists I’d think?
I think this is the big takeaway for me as a Firefox user. I switched the over from chrome about a year ago and I’ve been enjoying/promoting Firefox since.
I’m not saying that I will stop doing that but we should definitely not be blind or unwilling to criticize Firefox just because we are big fans of the service.
Hey they enshitified starting quite some time ago, and with only sub-3% market share lmao.
If you like GECKO based browsers like firefox then try out Waterfox or others.
I think it’s important to support the original Mozilla since they are the engine developers and need resources to make all other gecko-based browsers possible.
Currently though, it might make sense to make a switch, at least for now.
