Avenger: Looking Into The Future of Internet Censorship With Artificial Intelligence Algorithms

Internet censorship is a critical human rights issue, as the internet has rapidly become the primary mode of communication globally. While many censorship circumvention tools exist, they are frequently targeted by censors, leaving users vulnerable to sudden shifts in censorship strategies and resulting in drastic loss of access. In response to this challenge, I propose Avenger, a censorship speculation platform powered by artificial intelligence. Avenger uses AI algorithms to generate plausible censorship strategies that researchers can use to enhance and refine obfuscation protocols preemptively, rather than reactively. By producing efficient, minimal programs that could feasibly be implemented by censors, Avenger allows circumvention developers to anticipate and counteract future censorship mechanisms. The platform has already demonstrated its effectiveness in preliminary studies, where we successfully identified a previously unknown blocking attack against the Trojan circumvention proxy with an accuracy of 99.764% and a false positive rate of 0.0. Avenger holds the potential to revolutionize how the circumvention community prepares for and responds to censorship threats, ultimately strengthening internet freedom for users worldwide.