In today's world, the internet has become a crucial tool for information sharing and communication. However, internet censorship is becoming increasingly common in many parts of the world. In some countries, governments control internet access and censor online content to limit the spread of information they deem harmful or dangerous. This is where IPFS comes in - a censorship-resistant file-sharing system that enables sharing information without fear of censorship.
What is IPFS?
IPFS stands for InterPlanetary File System and is a peer-to-peer (P2P) distributed file-sharing system designed to enable the sharing of files across the internet in a decentralised manner. This means that instead of relying on centralised servers to store and share data, IPFS uses a web of interconnected nodes that can share files in a peer-to-peer manner. IPFS is designed to be highly efficient and secure, allowing users to share data without fear of censorship or data loss.
How Does IPFS Work?
IPFS creates a unique identifier for each file, called a Content Identifier (CID). When a user uploads a file to the IPFS network, it is assigned a CID, which is used to identify and retrieve the file from the network. The file is then replicated across multiple nodes in the network, making it highly available and difficult to censor or control.
IPFS also uses a web of interconnected nodes to ensure that files are always available and can be retrieved quickly. Each node in the network stores a copy of the file, and when a user requests the file, the node closest to the user retrieves and delivers the file to the user. This makes IPFS highly efficient and ensures that files can be retrieved quickly, even if the original node that uploaded the file is offline or unavailable.
Censorship Resistance
IPFS is censorship-resistant because it allows for the replication of files across multiple nodes, making it difficult for any one entity to control the distribution of the data.
This makes IPFS an ideal tool for journalists and activists who want to share information without fear of censorship or reprisals from governments or other entities.
For example, suppose a journalist in a country with strict internet censorship laws uploads content that the government doesn't want to leak into the public domain. In that case, IPFS can circumvent censorship at the ISP level by sharing the content with thousands of computers in the network. Even if the government tries to ban IPFS nodes in their country, they cannot control other countries' ISPs or prevent those nodes from connecting, making it difficult to censor or control the information.
Challenges
While IPFS is a powerful tool for enabling censorship-resistant file sharing, some challenges must be addressed to ensure widespread adoption. One of the most significant challenges is the risk of malicious actors misusing the system for their purposes. There is a risk that IPFS could become a haven for illegal activities such as piracy, copyright infringement, or the distribution of harmful content.
To mitigate these risks, distributed governance bodies can be set up to penalise malicious actors in the node infrastructure.
Companies in the Web3 space, such as Spheron, Pinnata, Web3 Storage and many others, are working to prevent such misuse at scale.
For example, a consortium has been set up by PL & IPFS to blacklist certain IPFS CIDs, making rendering the content so expensive that no one will try to do it.
Conclusion
IPFS is a powerful tool for enabling censorship-resistant file sharing, allowing users to share data without fear of censorship or data loss. Its peer-to-peer architecture ensures that files are highly available and can be retrieved quickly, even if the original node that uploaded the file is offline or unavailable. However, to ensure its widespread adoption, challenges include the risk of malicious actors.