Connecting the Dots

How to connect an article and a reader somewhere in Russia? In the diagram below, you can see the combined complexity of a given digital distribution channel for both parties inside the country - the audience and the distribution team (vertical axis).

The easiest way to connect a reader to your content is still a link or a native post published on a major social platform, that is not blocked, such as Telegram.

Content Distribution Complexity in Censored Regions

Other approaches, such as creating mobile apps, promoting VPNs, and email subscriptions require a lot more effort or steps on both ends. It’s like a funnel, where every step it takes to connect your content to a person dramatically reduces your audience reach. For instance, it takes a lot of resources and time to create a truly useful mobile app and then nudge people to install it.

Tor and P2P networks are truly rocket science for the average user. And that is why it can only be applicable to extreme environments like Turkmenistan.

This vision of distribution complexity can easily be projected onto the market landscape of an international media broadcaster like the BBC, DW, and RFE/RL:

Grey - Former Soviets, Afghanistan, Pakistan - most major online platforms are available, some websites are blocked or throttled
Orange - Russia, Iran, China - major platforms and circumvention technology are blocked or illegal – classic a Fear, Friction and Flooding
Red - Turkmenistan - whitelisted access to the internet

A resilient distribution strategy must adopt to the market context and consumption habits. Do everything possible to reduce the friction and complexity created by the censor for your audience.

Your Next Big Internet Freedom Technology is about User Experience and making the content easily reachable for people via various censorship circumvention tactics.

Connecting the DotsWhy It's Important to Focus on UX When Building the Next Big Internet Freedom Thing