Snowflake
Snowflake is a system that allows people from all over the world to access censored websites and applications.
What's Snowflake?
Similar to how VPNs assist users in getting around Internet
censorship, Snowflake helps you avoid being noticed by Internet censors by making your Internet
activity appear as though you're using the Internet for a regular video or voice
call.
There are numerous tools available, such as Snowflake, that "transform" Internet activity, each
using a different technique. Some redirect Internet traffic to appear to be coming from popular
cloud providers like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. Others scramble Internet traffic
in order to make it appear completely random. It therefore becomes costly for censors to
consider blocking such circumvention tools since it would require blocking large parts of the
Internet in order to achieve the initial targeted goal.
Run a Snowflake proxy and help people bypass censorship
Did you know that Snowflake proxies are operated entirely by
volunteers? In other words, a censored user gets matched with a random Snowflake proxy which is
run by a volunteer like you! So, if you want to help people bypass censorship, consider
installing and running a Snowflake proxy. The only prerequisite is that the Internet in your
country is not heavily censored already.
You can join thousands of volunteers from around the world who have a Snowflake proxy
installed and running. There is no need to worry about which websites people are accessing
through your Snowflake proxy. Their visible browsing IP address will match their Tor exit
node, not yours.
There are 3 different ways to run a Snowflake proxy (beginner
to advanced):
The web extension is the easiest way to run a Snowflake proxy. Simply install it on Firefox or Chrome, enable the extension, and watch the icon turn green when a user connects through your proxy!
Install
in Firefox
Install
in ChromeIf you switch on the Snowflake below and leave this browser tab open, a user can connect through your new proxy! Alternatively, you can embed a Snowflake proxy yourself inside a page in your own website (for example: https://relay.love). Visitors to your site can enter the page, enable the proxy, and leave it open to allow people to proxy through it (it behaves and looks exactly like the web extension).
If you would like to run a command-line version of the Snowflake proxy on your desktop or server, see our guide for running a Snowflake standalone proxy.
Use Snowflake to bypass censorship
Unlike VPNs, you do not need to install a separate application to connect to a Snowflake proxy and bypass censorship. It is usually a circumvention feature embedded within existing apps. Currently Snowflake is available inside Tor Browser on Desktop and Android, Onion Browser on iOS, and Orbot on Android and iOS. If you have downloaded and installed any of these apps, and they are censored in your country, you can bypass the censorship by activating Snowflake through the apps' settings page.
Learn more about how Snowflake works
Snowflake is a new circumvention technology, part of the Pluggable Transports family, that is continuously being improved. Curious to learn more about its architecture? Feel free to check this technical overview (in English). If you're interested in making use of Snowflake inside your application, get in touch with anti-censorship team.
Reporting bugs
If you encounter problems with Snowflake - whether you're using it or running it - please consider filing a bug report. There are two ways to file a bug report:
- Request an account at the Tor Project GitLab, then open a new issue in the Snowflake project.
- File an anonymous ticket by generating an identifier and logging in with it. Then, find the Snowflake project in the List of all projects and create a new issue.