A Look at the Consequences of Internet Censorship Through an ISP Lens

Internet censorship artificially changes the dynamics of resource production and consumption, affecting a range of stakeholders that include end users, service providers, and content providers. We analyze two large-scale censorship events in Pakistan: blocking of pornographic content in 2011 and of YouTube in 2012. Using traffic datasets collected at home and SOHO networks before and after the censorship events, we: a) quantify the demand for blocked content, b) illuminate challenges encountered by service providers in implementing the censorship policies, c) investigate changes in user behavior (e.g., with respect to circumvention) after censorship, and d) assess benefits extracted by competing content providers of blocked content.

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