Contd. Implications for International Community
infrastructure and expertise for this model, demands immediate discussion and action. As
Geedge continues to sell to new clients and scale its capacities, it deepens the global
infrastructure for digital repression, reinforcing authoritarian control across borders.
This research also reveals that Geedge’s business model is built to be resilient to sanctions.
Its products are interoperable with a wide range of hardware vendors, allowing them to
remain functional even when some suppliers are restricted. While governments and internet
freedom allies should pressure companies such as the French Thales Group to cease
business with Geedge, sanctioning Western companies from selling their hardware to client
governments alone will likely not prevent Geedge from operating in these regions. The
internet freedom community must therefore strategically and thoughtfully assess the
implications of this approach—particularly its impact on the effectiveness of sanctions as a
lever for change.
The international community must also scrutinize its own role in propping up repressive
digital infrastructure. Internet service providers often claim they are simply complying with
local laws, but public financing of ISPs implicated with Geedge’s operations, such as Frontiir
and Safaricom, underscores the importance of transparency and accountability
mechanisms for companies with control over critical infrastructure. The case of Ethiopia
provides an illustrative example, where the government falsely presented a facade of
political openness by breaking the monopoly of the state-owned Ethio Telecom and
allowing for the entrance of Safaricom. This liberalization of the telecommunications sector
was too readily applauded by the international community. Our findings show that Geedge
enabled increased surveillance and censorship under this foreign-owned ISP.
In addition, debates over social media and big tech regulation in democratic societies must
not become cover for adopting the same kinds of blanket censorship systems that
authoritarian regimes use to stifle political dissent. The experience of the Great Firewall of
China – and countries employing similar technologies for censorship, such as Russia –
serves as a cautionary tale, demonstrating how control over the internet can be used to
maintain authoritarian power.
Implications for Internet users in Geedge client countries
For the millions of people accessing the internet in countries utilizing Geedge’s technology,
the research findings raise significant concerns around internet users’ freedom to safely
access information and express themselves online. It is important for organizations that
work on digital safety and human rights in these countries and regions to understand how
this research changes the threat model that they face and the risks related to online (and
offline) behaviors.
One of the major findings of this research is that Geedge clients are able to more precisely
identify and track users of VPNs and circumvention tools. In countries where the use of
VPNs or other circumvention tools is prohibited by law, individuals attempting ...