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How can people living under repressive regimes communicate safely?
Activating VPN on your computer can establish a connection with a VPN repeater somewhere else in the world, which then puts out your signal with an identity consistent with originating at that remote location. So somebody in Dublin can set his/her VPN to Hong Kong and thereafter communications appear to come from some address in HK.
If you are given access to someone else's Router, e.g., in a hospital or a cafe, your communications will go out through the other party's modem. I haven't tried this, but it should be possible to activate your VPN and have your Internet activity appear to originate in some remote location.
You can use something like a TOR browser to go directly to a TOR connection with the outside world, or you can use your VPN to go to a TOR connection. The most highly regarded VPN service, ExpressVPN, is in favor of communicating this way if you are in a bad situation.
Evauations of VPN services for Afghanistan.