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Google Boots Open Source Anti-Censorship Tool From Chrome Store (torrentfreak.com)

Google has removed the open-source Ahoy! extension from the Chrome store with little explanation. The tool facilitated access to more than 1,700 blocked sites in Portugal by routing traffic through its own proxies. TorrentFreak reports: After servicing 100,000 users last December, Ahoy! grew to almost 185,000 users this year. However, progress and indeed the project itself is now under threat after arbitrary action by Google. "Google decided to remove us from Chrome's Web Store without any justification," team member Henrique Mouta informs TF. "We always make sure our code is high quality, secure and 100% free (as in beer and as in freedom). All the source code is open source. And we're pretty sure we never broke any of the Google's marketplace rules."

Henrique says he's tried to reach out to Google but finding someone to help has proven impossible. Even re-submitting Ahoy! to Google from scratch hasn't helped the situation. "I tried and resubmitted the plugin but it was refused after a few hours and without any justification," Henrique says. "Google never reached us or notified us about the removal from Chrome Web Store. We never got a single email justifying what happened, why have we been removed from the store, or/and what are we breaching and how can we fix it." TorrentFreak reached out to Google asking why this anti-censorship tool has been removed from its Chrome store. Despite multiple requests, the search giant failed to respond to us or the Ahoy! team.
Thankfully, the Ahoy! extension is still available on Firefox.

4 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Re:i want to download it and use it for a test by FudRucker · · Score: 3, Informative

    it gets deleted when i close the browser and reopen it

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  2. Altername search engine? by Jerry · · Score: 4, Informative

    Bing?
    Run by Microsoft, which is just as evil and anti-free speech as Google

    Baidu?
    The definition of censorship -- might as well use Google.

    Yandex?
    If you like your search results slanted to Russia's ideology. Like Baidu, it is alright for the comrades but not for lovers of freedom.

    Ecosia?
    Powered by Bing, claims to be CO2 neutral, but Bing is powered by oil so not really CO2 neutral.

    DuckDuckGo or StartPage?
    For those not wanting to run Bing or Google these two are everyone's favorite. However, they are merely front ends for Google, but they do not let your queries become linked to your IP address or personal info.

    Twitter?
    Surely you jest. The master of double standards and censorship. Besides, like FB, they are dying because people are getting tired of their heavy handed and biased ways.

    CCSearch?
    Just another layer of snooping and 3rd party sales of your info. Logs on your searches kept for a period of time. Just use Google if you don't mind being spied upon.

    Wiki.com?
    A search engine which searches only Wiki's. Wikis themselves are heavily slanted and filtered to fit a certain political slant. Again, comrades should have no problem using them.

    Boardreader?
    If you’re searching for content written by everyday users about a topic this is your tool. Will the "everyday user" know what they are talking about? Too many seem to think that perpetual energy devices are real, and that Planet Nibiru is about to strike. :(

    Slideshare?
    Sponsored by LinkedIn, a comrade to Google, Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft, it links to videos, slides, pdf's and other educational material. Many are dated. Not the site to use if you want up to date information without a slant.

    So, what to use?
    What ever you want. Just know what using your choice can cost you more than you may realize.

    --

    Running with Linux for over 20 years!

    1. Re:Altername search engine? by barbariccow · · Score: 4, Informative

      duckduckgo is not a front-end for google... the search results are completely different. I mean for fucks sake their page lists the ips and user agent that their web crawler uses here: https://duckduckgo.com/duckduc...

    2. Re:Altername search engine? by jimbo · · Score: 4, Informative

      Indeed, for traditional search results they source from Bing; https://duck.co/help/results/sources