<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> <!-- Parent-Version:1.841.96 --> <!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" --> <!-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please do not edit <ul class="blurbs">! Instead, edit /proprietary/workshop/mal.rec, then regenerate pages. See explanations in /proprietary/workshop/README.md. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --> <title>Proprietary Censorship - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/side-menu.css" media="screen,print" /> <!--#include virtual="/proprietary/po/proprietary-censorship.translist" --> <!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> <div class="nav"> <a id="side-menu-button" class="switch" href="#navlinks"> <img id="side-menu-icon" height="32" src="/graphics/icons/side-menu.png" title="Section contents" alt=" [Section contents] " /> </a> <p class="breadcrumb"> <a href="/"><img src="/graphics/icons/home.png" height="24" alt="GNU Home" title="GNU Home" /></a> / <a href="/proprietary/proprietary.html">Malware</a> / By type / </p> </div> <!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE--> <!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" --> <div style="clear: both"></div> <div id="last-div" class="reduced-width"> <h2>Proprietary Censorship</h2> <div class="infobox"> <hr class="full-width" /> <p>Nonfree (proprietary) software is very often malware (designed to mistreat the user). Nonfree software is controlled by its developers, which puts them in a position of power over the users; <a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">that is the basic injustice</a>. The developers and manufacturers often exercise that power to the detriment of the users they ought to serve.</p><p>Here are examples<p>This typically takes the form ofproprietary systems that imposemalicious functionalities.</p> <hr class="full-width" /> </div> <div class="article"> <p>One kind of malicious functionality is censorshiponof whattheirusers can access. Here are examples of programs which do this. We have a <a href="/proprietary/proprietary-jails.html">separate list of proprietary systems that censor installation</a> of application programs (we call them“jails”.)</p>“jails”).</p> <p>Selling products designed as platforms for a company to impose censorship ought to be forbidden by law, but it isn't.</p><ul> <li><p>Chrome <a href="https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/6261569?hl=en"> censors downloads<div class="important"> <p>If you know ofsoftware</a>.</p> <p>Helping users avoid malicious software downloads is useful,an example that ought to be in this page butforcibly stopping themisn't here, please write to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a> to inform us. Please include the URL of a trustworthy reference or two to serve as specific substantiation.</p> </div> <h3 id="apple">Apple</h3> <p>Apple mainly uses iOS, which iswrong.</p> </li> <li><p>Chrome, on Windows, nowa typical jail, to impose censorship through the Apple Store. Please refer to <ahref="https://thenextweb.com/google/2014/05/27/google-starts-blocking-extensions-chrome-web-store-windows-users-disables-installed-ones/"> censors extensions</a>.</p>href="/proprietary/proprietary-jails.html#apple">Proprietary Jails</a> for more information.</p> <h3 id="google">Google</h3> <ul class="blurbs"> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-censorship.html. --> <li id="M201703160"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-03</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Googlesaid it would <a href="/proprietary/proprietary-back-doors.html#chrome-erase-addons"> force-delete unauthorized extensions</a>.</p> </li> <li><p>Google<ahref="http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2017/0316/Google-Family-Link-gives-parents-a-way-to-monitor-preteens-accounts">href="https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2017/0316/Google-Family-Link-gives-parents-a-way-to-monitor-preteens-accounts"> offers censorship software</a>, ostensibly for parents to put into their children's computers.</p> </li><li><p> The<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-censorship.html. --> <li id="M201701180"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-01</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>On Windows and MacOS, Chrome <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/developers/extensions-deployment-faq"> disables extensions</a> that are not hosted in the Chrome Web Store.</p> <p>For example, an extension was <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170120094917/https://consumerist.com/2017/01/18/why-is-google-blocking-this-ad-blocker-on-chrome/"> banned from the Chrome Web Store, and permanently disabled</a> on more than 40,000 computers.</p> </li> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-censorship.html. --> <li id="M201602030"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2016-02</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/feb/03/google-pulls-ad-blocking-app-for-samsung-phones"> Google censored installation of Samsung's ad-blocker</a> on Android phones, saying that blocking ads is “interference” with the sites that advertise (and surveil users through ads).</p> <p>The ad-blocker is proprietary software, just like the program (Google Play) that Google used to deny access to install it. Using a nonfree program gives the owner power over you, and Google has exercised that power.</p> <p>Google's censorship, unlike that of Apple, is not total: Android allows users to install apps in other ways. You can install free programs from f-droid.org.</p> </li> </ul> <h3 id="consoles">Game consoles</h3> <ul class="blurbs"> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-censorship.html. --> <li id="M201408290"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2014-08</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>The <ahref="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendos-new-3ds-charges-30-cents-to-remove-an-in/1100-6421996/">Nintendohref="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendos-new-3ds-charges-30-cents-to-remove-an-in/1100-6421996/"> Nintendo 3DS</a> censors web browsing; it is possible to turn off the censorship, but that requires identifying oneself to pay, which is a form ofsurveillance. </p></li>surveillance.</p> </li> </ul></div><!-- for id="content", starts<h3 id="online-conferencing">Online conferencing</h3> <ul class="blurbs"> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-censorship.html. --> <li id="M202006120"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2020-06</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>The company behind Zoom does not only deny users' computer freedom by developing this piece of nonfree software, it also violates users' civil rights by <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/12/21288995/zoom-blocking-feature-chinese-government-censorship">banning events and censoring users</a> to serve theinclude aboveagenda of governments.</p> <p>Freedom respecting programs such as <a href="https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Jitsi">Jitsi</a> or <a href="https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/BigBlueButton">BigBlueButton</a> can be used instead, better still if installed in a server controlled by its users.</p> </li> </ul> <h3 id="other">Other</h3> <ul class="blurbs"> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-censorship.html. --> <li id="M202204040"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2022-04</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>New Amazon worker chat app <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/04/04/amazon-union-living-wage-restrooms-chat-app/">would ban specific words Amazon doesn't like</a>, such as “union”, “restrooms”, and “pay raise”. If the app was free, workers could modify the program so it acts as they wish, not how Amazon wants it.</p> </li> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-censorship.html. --> <li id="M202109220"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2021-09</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Some Xiaomi phones <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/22/lithuania-tells-citizens-to-throw-out-chinese-phones-over-censorship-concerns">have a malfeature to bleep out phrases that express political views the Chinese government does not like</a>. In phones sold in Europe, Xiaomi leaves this deactivated by default, but has a back door to activate the censorship.</p> <p>This is the natural result of having nonfree software in a device that can communicate with the company that made it.</p> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <!--#include virtual="/proprietary/proprietary-menu.html" --> <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> <divid="footer">id="footer" role="contentinfo"> <div class="unprintable"> <p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> <p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, replace it with the translation of these two: We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> <p>For information on coordinating andsubmittingcontributing translations of our web pages, see <a href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations README</a>. --> Please see the <a href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations README</a> for information on coordinating andsubmittingcontributing translations of this article.</p> </div> <!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should be under CC BY-ND 4.0. Please do NOT change or remove this without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first. Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the document. For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the document was modified, or published. If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too. 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