Snowflake for Firefox

Some services and websites use geo-blocking to restrict the access to Internet content based on the location of the user. Created by the developers of Tor, known for its power to bypass Internet censorship, the Snowflake extension for Firefox is able to avoid location-based restrictions.

What is interesting about it is that it can work as a client to help you unlock blocked content, but it can also act as a proxy server of your own, which users in censored networks can use to bypass locked content. In other words, if you are located in a non-censored region, you can help others in censored networks by using the Snowflake extension. On the other hand, if your Internet access is restricted, then it is recommended to use the Tor Browser.

But how does it actually work? Snowflake makes use of WebRTC to redirect the Internet traffic via temporary proxies. Thus, WebRTC must be enabled to be able to voluntarily become a Snowflake proxy that others can use to access geo-blocked content from anywhere in the world. Detailed instructions on the steps you need to take to become a proxy and a Snowflake bridge are available on the official documentation page.

If you decide to become a proxy provider with the Snowflake extension, most probably you are worried about the websites that others might access via your proxy. However, you should keep in mind that the IP address that is publicly visible to the outside world always matches the Tor exit node of the final user, not yours.

There are a few unlucky Internet users that face geographical restrictions when navigating online, which prevents them from accessing the desired content freely.

For instance, there are known cases of countries whose philosophy is to censor access to the online world, being afraid of what free access to technology and unrestricted information might have on their citizens. But what some consider beneficial, others consider unfair censorship which, luckily, can be bypassed using instruments such as Snowflake. Nevertheless, please keep in mind that the extension is not meant to encourage law breaking and that it is your own responsibility on how you use it.