<s>
GitHub	B-Application
has	O
been	O
the	O
target	O
of	O
censorship	O
from	O
governments	O
using	O
methods	O
ranging	O
from	O
local	O
Internet	O
service	O
provider	O
blocks	O
,	O
intermediary	O
blocking	O
using	O
methods	O
such	O
as	O
DNS	B-Protocol
hijacking	I-Protocol
and	O
man-in-the-middle	O
attacks	O
,	O
and	O
denial-of-service	O
attacks	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
's	O
servers	O
from	O
countries	O
including	O
China	O
,	O
India	O
,	O
Iraq	O
,	O
and	O
Russia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
all	O
of	O
these	O
cases	O
,	O
GitHub	B-Application
has	O
been	O
eventually	O
unblocked	O
after	O
backlash	O
from	O
users	O
and	O
technology	O
businesses	O
or	O
compliance	O
from	O
GitHub	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
GitHub	B-Application
is	O
a	O
web-based	O
Git	B-Application
repository	I-Application
hosting	O
service	O
and	O
is	O
primarily	O
used	O
to	O
host	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
of	O
software	O
,	O
facilitate	O
project	O
management	O
,	O
and	O
provide	O
distributed	O
revision	O
control	O
functionality	O
of	O
Git	B-Application
,	O
access	O
control	O
,	O
wikis	O
,	O
and	O
bug	O
tracking	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
November	O
2015	O
,	O
GitHub	B-Application
reports	O
having	O
over	O
11.5million	O
users	O
and	O
over	O
28.9million	O
repositories	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
offers	O
free	O
accounts	O
,	O
a	O
pastebin	O
service	O
called	O
Gist	O
,	O
and	O
free	O
website	O
hosting	O
under	O
its	O
github.io	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GitHub	B-Application
terms	O
of	O
service	O
prohibits	O
illegal	O
use	O
and	O
it	O
reserves	O
the	O
right	O
to	O
remove	O
content	O
at	O
its	O
discretion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
fork	B-Application
(	O
copy	O
and	O
individually	O
develop	O
)	O
other	O
projects	O
,	O
which	O
GitHub	B-Application
does	O
not	O
automatically	O
take	O
down	O
when	O
served	O
DMCA	O
takedown	O
notices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GitHub	B-Application
uses	O
HTTPS	B-Protocol
for	O
its	O
connections	O
,	O
making	O
data	O
more	O
secure	O
against	O
interception	O
from	O
third	O
parties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
China	O
heavily	O
regulates	O
Internet	O
traffic	O
and	O
has	O
blocked	O
many	O
international	O
Internet	O
companies	O
including	O
Facebook	B-Application
and	O
Twitter	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
Western	O
businesses	O
have	O
said	O
that	O
these	O
restrictions	O
hurt	O
their	O
business	O
by	O
reducing	O
access	O
to	O
information	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
from	O
search	O
engines	O
and	O
those	O
using	O
VPNs	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2013	O
,	O
the	O
country	O
started	O
blocking	O
GitHub	B-Application
and	O
it	O
was	O
met	O
by	O
protests	O
among	O
Chinese	O
programmers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GreatFire	O
,	O
a	O
Chinese	O
anti-censorship	O
organization	O
,	O
has	O
attempted	O
to	O
circumvent	O
the	B-Application
Great	I-Application
Firewall	I-Application
of	I-Application
China	I-Application
using	O
mirror	O
websites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
links	O
to	O
these	O
pages	O
were	O
posted	O
using	O
GitHub	B-Application
which	O
brings	O
the	O
risk	O
of	O
the	O
site	O
being	O
blocked	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
mirrors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
previous	O
incident	O
,	O
HSBC	O
bank	O
's	O
Chinese	O
operation	O
was	O
taken	O
offline	O
when	O
the	O
Akamai	B-Application
network	O
was	O
targeted	O
for	O
hosting	O
GreatFire.org	O
websites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
21	O
,	O
2013	O
,	O
GitHub	B-Application
was	O
blocked	O
in	O
China	O
using	O
DNS	B-Protocol
hijacking	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Confirming	O
the	O
block	O
,	O
a	O
spokesperson	O
for	O
GitHub	B-Application
said	O
:	O
"	O
It	O
does	O
appear	O
that	O
we	O
're	O
at	O
least	O
being	O
partly	O
blocked	O
by	O
the	B-Application
Great	I-Application
Firewall	I-Application
of	I-Application
China	I-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
block	O
was	O
lifted	O
on	O
January	O
23	O
,	O
2013	O
after	O
an	O
online	O
protest	O
on	O
Sina	B-Protocol
Weibo	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kai-Fu	O
Lee	O
brought	O
attention	O
to	O
the	O
block	O
after	O
posting	O
about	O
it	O
on	O
Sina	B-Protocol
Weibo	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
derided	O
the	O
block	O
,	O
saying	O
:	O
"	O
Blocking	O
GitHub	B-Application
is	O
unjustifiable	O
,	O
and	O
will	O
only	O
derail	O
the	O
nation	O
's	O
programmers	O
from	O
the	O
world	O
,	O
while	O
bringing	O
about	O
a	O
loss	O
in	O
competitiveness	O
and	O
insight.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
26	O
,	O
2013	O
,	O
GitHub	B-Application
users	O
in	O
China	O
experienced	O
a	O
man-in-the-middle	O
attack	O
in	O
which	O
attackers	O
could	O
have	O
intercepted	O
traffic	O
between	O
the	O
site	O
and	O
its	O
users	O
in	O
China	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
attempting	O
to	O
access	O
GitHub	B-Application
received	O
a	O
warning	O
of	O
an	O
invalid	O
SSL	O
certificate	O
,	O
which	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
being	O
signed	O
by	O
an	O
unknown	B-Protocol
authority	I-Protocol
,	O
was	O
quickly	O
detected	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
spokesperson	O
for	O
GitHub	B-Application
said	O
:	O
"	O
Early	O
last	O
week	O
,	O
it	O
appeared	O
that	O
GitHub	B-Application
was	O
being	O
at	O
least	O
partially	O
blocked	O
by	O
the	B-Application
Great	I-Application
Firewall	I-Application
of	I-Application
China	I-Application
...	O
After	O
a	O
couple	O
days	O
,	O
it	O
appeared	O
that	O
GitHub	B-Application
was	O
no	O
longer	O
being	O
blocked.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
NETRESEC	O
performed	O
forensics	O
of	O
the	O
attack	O
and	O
determined	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
indeed	O
an	O
attack	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
router	B-Protocol
hops	I-Protocol
involved	O
(	O
6	O
)	O
and	O
because	O
the	O
user	O
submitting	O
the	O
packet	B-Language
capture	I-Language
was	O
from	O
China	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
attack	O
was	O
performed	O
again	O
on	O
March	O
26	O
,	O
2020	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
Pages	O
and	O
March	O
27	O
,	O
2020	O
on	O
GitHub.com	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
GreatFire	O
speculated	O
that	O
the	O
attack	O
was	O
related	O
to	O
a	O
popular	O
White	B-Application
House	I-Application
petition	I-Application
calling	O
for	O
the	O
denial	O
of	O
entry	O
to	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
of	O
the	O
architects	O
of	O
the	B-Application
Great	I-Application
Firewall	I-Application
of	I-Application
China	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
GreatFire	O
also	O
said	O
that	O
since	O
GitHub	B-Application
is	O
HTTPS	B-Protocol
only	O
,	O
Chinese	O
authorities	O
ca	O
n't	O
block	O
individual	O
pages	O
and	O
have	O
to	O
completely	O
block	O
the	O
website	O
,	O
which	O
helps	O
explain	O
why	O
they	O
would	O
have	O
to	O
resort	O
to	O
the	O
attack	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InformationWeek	O
noted	O
the	O
economic	O
difficulty	O
related	O
to	O
blocking	O
GitHub	B-Application
:	O
"	O
What	O
makes	O
GitHub	B-Application
interesting	O
from	O
a	O
censorship	O
point	O
of	O
view	O
is	O
that	O
it	O
combines	O
a	O
critical	O
business	O
service	O
—	O
collaborative	O
coding	O
—	O
with	O
social	O
interaction.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
26	O
,	O
2015	O
,	O
GitHub	B-Application
was	O
the	O
target	O
of	O
a	O
distributed	O
denial-of-service	O
(	O
DDoS	O
)	O
attack	O
originating	O
from	O
China	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GitHub	B-Application
blocked	I-Application
China-based	O
IP	O
addresses	O
from	O
visiting	O
these	O
repositories	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
a	O
visitor	O
comes	O
from	O
China	O
,	O
the	O
page	O
would	O
show	O
"	O
Repository	B-General_Concept
unavailable	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
Chinese	O
Internet	O
Blacklist	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Based	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
,	O
they	O
are	O
doing	O
this	O
so	O
"	O
that	O
our	O
users	O
in	O
that	O
jurisdiction	O
may	O
continue	O
to	O
have	O
access	O
to	O
GitHub	B-Application
to	O
collaborate	O
and	O
build	O
software.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
now	O
having	O
a	O
gov-takedowns	O
repository	B-General_Concept
to	O
record	O
all	O
the	O
government	O
requirements	O
they	O
could	O
show	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
enforced	O
by	O
the	O
Information	B-General_Concept
Technology	I-General_Concept
Act	O
,	O
2000	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
licensing	O
requirements	O
for	O
Internet	O
service	O
providers	O
(	O
ISPs	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
notice	O
was	O
made	O
public	O
on	O
December	O
31	O
,	O
2014	O
and	O
it	O
included	O
GitHub	B-Application
,	O
GitHub	B-Application
's	O
Gist	O
,	O
Vimeo	O
,	O
the	O
Internet	O
Archive	O
,	O
and	O
various	O
pastebin	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
block	O
order	O
was	O
confirmed	O
on	O
Twitter	B-Application
by	O
Arvind	O
Gupta	O
,	O
the	O
national	O
head	O
of	O
the	O
ruling	O
party	O
BJP	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
attributed	O
to	O
a	O
suggestion	O
by	O
India	O
's	O
Anti	O
Terrorism	O
Squad	O
in	O
response	O
to	O
content	O
by	O
the	O
Islamic	O
extremist	O
group	O
ISIS	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
2	O
,	O
2015	O
,	O
the	O
Ministry	O
of	O
Communications	O
issued	O
a	O
statement	O
that	O
it	O
will	O
be	O
unblocking	O
4	O
of	O
the	O
websites	O
,	O
including	O
GitHub	B-Application
's	O
Gist	O
,	O
and	O
said	O
that	O
it	O
will	O
consider	O
unblocking	O
the	O
remaining	O
websites	O
once	O
they	O
complied	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
websites	O
were	O
being	O
used	O
frequently	O
for	O
pasting	O
,	O
communicating	O
 [ jihadi ] 	O
content	O
...	O
"	O
Gulshan	O
Rai	O
of	O
the	O
CERT-In	O
agency	O
of	O
the	O
ministry	O
said	O
that	O
the	O
order	O
came	O
from	O
the	O
Mumbai	O
Additional	O
Chief	O
Metropolitan	O
Magistrate	O
following	O
an	O
interrogation	O
of	O
Arif	O
Majeed	O
,	O
an	O
ISIS	B-Operating_System
recruit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
4	O
,	O
2015	O
,	O
a	O
GitHub	B-Application
spokesperson	O
said	O
that	O
some	O
users	O
were	O
still	O
having	O
trouble	O
accessing	O
the	O
site	O
and	O
that	O
GitHub	B-Application
has	O
attempted	O
to	O
reach	O
out	O
to	O
the	O
Indian	O
government	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
still	O
unclear	O
about	O
the	O
cause	O
of	O
the	O
block	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
said	O
that	O
restoring	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
developer	O
community	O
in	O
India	O
was	O
their	O
top	O
priority	O
and	O
that	O
they	O
"	O
would	O
like	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
the	O
Indian	O
government	O
to	O
establish	O
a	O
transparent	O
process	O
for	O
identifying	O
unlawful	O
content	O
,	O
restore	O
access	O
,	O
and	O
ensure	O
that	O
GitHub	B-Application
continues	O
to	O
remain	O
available	O
in	O
the	O
future	O
without	O
interruption.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Blocking	O
methods	O
included	O
IP	O
blocking	O
,	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
proxy	B-Application
server	I-Application
,	O
and	O
DNS	B-Application
blocking	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Regarding	O
the	O
blocks	O
,	O
TechCrunch	O
remarked	O
that	O
"[the]	O
addition	O
of	O
GitHub	B-Application
...	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
more	O
head-scratching	O
decisions	O
"	O
and	O
anticipated	O
an	O
uproar	O
considering	O
its	O
importance	O
in	O
the	O
tech	O
industry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
called	O
it	O
embarrassing	O
in	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
Prime	O
Minister	O
Narendra	O
Modi	O
's	O
Make	O
in	O
India	O
campaign	O
to	O
promote	O
India	O
as	O
a	O
destination	O
for	O
information	B-General_Concept
technology	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
a	O
move	O
only	O
inconveniences	O
the	O
daily	O
users	O
...	O
"	O
Twitter	B-Application
users	O
protested	O
using	O
the	O
hashtag	O
#GOIblocks	O
and	O
recirculated	O
a	O
hypocritical	O
message	O
by	O
Modi	O
from	O
2012	O
condemning	O
blanket	O
blocking	O
of	O
websites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
2	O
,	O
2014	O
,	O
Roscomnadzor	O
blocked	O
GitHub	B-Application
due	O
to	O
it	O
hosting	O
various	O
copies	O
of	O
a	O
suicide	O
manual	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
GitHub	B-Application
uses	O
HTTPS	B-Protocol
,	O
which	O
encrypts	O
data	O
between	O
a	O
user	O
's	O
computer	O
and	O
GitHub	B-Application
's	O
servers	O
,	O
Internet	O
service	O
providers	O
(	O
ISPs	O
)	O
were	O
forced	O
to	O
block	O
the	O
whole	O
website	O
instead	O
of	O
the	O
pages	O
involved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Maxim	O
Ksenzov	O
,	O
the	O
Deputy	O
Head	O
of	O
Roscomnadzor	O
,	O
said	O
in	O
a	O
statement	O
that	O
the	O
block	O
was	O
due	O
to	O
GitHub	B-Application
not	O
complying	O
with	O
earlier	O
takedown	O
requests	O
for	O
the	O
manual	O
on	O
October	O
10	O
,	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GitHub	B-Application
was	O
also	O
momentarily	O
blocked	O
on	O
October	O
2	O
,	O
2014	O
until	O
the	O
original	O
copy	O
of	O
the	O
manual	O
was	O
deleted	O
by	O
its	O
uploader	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
added	O
to	O
a	O
repository	B-General_Concept
for	O
a	O
software	B-Library
library	I-Library
used	O
for	O
working	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
filesystems	I-Application
and	O
was	O
forked	B-Application
by	O
several	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
copy	O
was	O
deleted	O
by	O
the	O
owner	O
on	O
October	O
2	O
,	O
2014	O
after	O
numerous	O
GitHub	B-Application
users	O
complained	O
because	O
of	O
a	O
block	O
by	O
Roscomnadzor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GitHub	B-Application
complied	O
and	O
blocked	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
content	O
within	O
Russia	O
saying	O
that	O
they	O
were	O
working	O
to	O
get	O
reinstated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Citing	O
its	O
terms	O
of	O
service	O
,	O
GitHub	B-Application
elaborated	O
that	O
"	O
you	O
must	O
not	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
Service	O
,	O
violate	O
any	O
laws	O
in	O
your	O
jurisdiction	O
(	O
including	O
but	O
not	O
limited	O
to	O
copyright	O
or	O
trademark	O
laws	O
)	O
.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
GitHub	B-Application
also	O
created	O
an	O
official	O
repository	B-General_Concept
titled	O
"	O
roskomnadzor	O
"	O
for	O
the	O
purpose	O
of	O
posting	O
takedown	O
notices	O
from	O
the	O
regulator	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
It	O
was	O
later	O
moved	O
to	O
"	O
gov-takedowns	O
"	O
after	O
a	O
request	O
from	O
China	O
on	O
June	O
9	O
,	O
2016	O
)	O
In	O
the	O
readme	O
of	O
the	O
repository	B-General_Concept
,	O
GitHub	B-Application
states	O
that	O
they	O
are	O
concerned	O
about	O
Internet	O
censorship	O
and	O
believe	O
in	O
transparency	O
to	O
document	O
the	O
potential	O
for	O
chilling	O
effects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
warn	O
that	O
the	O
presence	O
of	O
a	O
notice	O
is	O
only	O
for	O
documentation	O
and	O
that	O
GitHub	B-Application
does	O
not	O
pass	O
any	O
judgement	O
on	O
their	O
validity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
October	O
8	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
following	O
the	O
leak	O
of	O
emails	O
of	O
Turkish	O
Minister	O
Berat	O
Albayrak	O
by	O
RedHack	B-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
Information	O
and	O
Communication	O
Technologies	O
Authority	O
(	O
BTK	O
)	O
ordered	O
ISPs	O
to	O
block	O
several	O
file	O
sharing	O
websites	O
,	O
including	O
Dropbox	B-Application
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
OneDrive	I-Application
,	O
and	O
Google	B-Application
Drive	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
censorship	O
monitoring	O
watchdog	O
Turkey	O
Blocks	O
observed	O
that	O
GitHub	B-Application
was	O
blocked	O
the	O
following	O
morning	O
,	O
and	O
associated	O
administrative	O
orders	O
were	O
subsequently	O
posted	O
by	O
the	O
BTK	O
stating	O
that	O
access	O
had	O
been	O
officially	O
restricted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	O
that	O
depended	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
reported	O
errors	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Font	O
Awesome	O
and	O
Homebrew	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
#GitHub	O
hashtag	O
became	O
one	O
of	O
Twitter	B-Application
's	O
top	O
trends	O
in	O
Turkey	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
The	O
Daily	O
Dot	O
,	O
RedHack	B-Operating_System
purposefully	O
spread	O
the	O
emails	O
using	O
multiple	O
services	O
,	O
expecting	O
Turkey	O
to	O
block	O
them	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
Streisand	O
effect	O
could	O
be	O
utilized	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GitHub	B-Application
was	O
unblocked	O
18hours	O
later	O
.	O
</s>
