Hello all,
As a gift to all of you and our friends over at the Center for Countering Digital Hate, I will release a concise guide on running a controversial website. If you want to run a forum or site without dealing with de-platforming, I will provide detailed information below on how to do it. Many of the claims I will be making here have been tried and tested by myself and many other websites, but I want to give each one of you the power to create uncensorable, lawful platforms that protect free speech.
This guide assumes that you already know the basics of how a typical website works, a basic knowledge of PHP (or at least the ability to configure it), and how to configure it. You will also need to understand a LAMP or LNMP stack. You will need some knowledge of configuring servers if you're using a VPS or dedicated server, or you can use something like Centminmod to configure it, which still requires some knowledge. Below I will detail which services are best and which ones to avoid.
You have three main points of failure when someone tries to deplatform you: Your domain registrar, your DNS provider, and your web host. It is crucial that you have these 3 points fortified to ensure that you have made the best options when it comes to these providers. I will detail options for all 3 of these below:
Webhost: An excellent offshore web host is critical, as an unreliable host can quickly become a nightmare. Worst case scenario can leave you with no access to your files and having to start over if you don't have backups. Pick your host wisely, as it becomes hard to move your site the more it grows. I will give you all a small list of hosts that we have used in the past, in addition to good ones:
Hostfory (UA)
BuyVM (US)
Vanwatech (US)
Marbell (CH)
Spartanhost (US)
Vdsina (RU)
Veesp (RU)
Domain Registrar: There are many domain registrars, but not many that wouldn't fold after a few bogus abuse complaints. Picking your domain registrar and extension is very important and can be the difference between a functioning website with a web address or an inaccessible website. Ideally, you would want to pick a domain extension in a country that doesn't have ties to western countries, like China or Russia, but they have different domain regulations, too, so you need to watch out for that. Below I will detail the extensions and registrars that I would personally recommend and ones that I would avoid, like the plague.
Extensions:
.com .org or .net and most gTLDs: You should be fine to use any of these as long as you're not doing any illegal activity. You will most likely need to find a decent registrar that will not suspend your domains, and you should be fine.
.is: As long as you register your domain directly with ISNIC and use valid contact information, you should be fine to register a .is domain. They will only suspend your domain with a valid court order from an Icelandic court.
.st: As long as you get your domain directly through the registry, you should be good.
.su: An adversarial country to the west, Russia, this Soviet Union domain can be bulletproof if registered correctly. Under normal circumstances, it can be pretty effective under any Russian registrar.
.top: The TOP domain, owned by a Chinese company, puts it in an adversarial country. This extension is known for having more lax policies, so I recommend trying it with a Chinese registrar.
.ir: Another adversarial country, Iran, also offers domains. I have not seen a controversial website try this extension, so you enter at your own risk.
Registrars:
Chinese registrars like BizCN, Eranet, Todaynic, or NiceNIC are great options for registering your domain. As long as you're not breaking Hong Kong or Chinese law, you will be safe there.
Offshore domain registrars like Shinjiru or Openprovider are also great.
American registrars like VanwaTech, Epik, and Cloudflare are pretty good at tolerating complaints as long as you don't have illegal content on your site. So these are also good choices for registrars.
Avoid any mainstream domain provider at all costs. For example, do not register a domain at Godaddy or NameCheap, as they will suspend over a simple complaint with no evidence.
It would be best if you also avoided Njalla, as they will suspend and keep your domains randomly and give you no reasoning. In addition, they are not a domain registrar and will not allow you to transfer out if you transfer there. Finally, you will have no recourse if you lose your domains to them.
DNS: With your domain and hosting, you will need a DNS provider to point your visitors to the correct site. While there are many cases where your hosting provider hosts your DNS, this is often unreliable, and you will most like want to have your DNS hosted by an external provider. Sometimes these providers can provide built-in CDNs, edge caching, or other perks. Below is a list of providers I can recommend below:
Cloudflare: Cloudflare has superior service to any other provider. They have an impressive number of PoPs and offer an excellent free tier with many features. They are a solid choice as long as you abide by the law.
Vanwatech: This newer DNS/CDN provider hosts sites like 8kun and the Daily Stormer. They are a pretty good choice, especially considering that they are genuinely neutral and won't interfere with your services for the most part. In addition, the services themselves are a pretty good match to Cloudflare's, even though you don't get as many features as you would over at Cloudflare.
I can't, unfortunately, recommend any of the others, as I haven't tried them, but here's a huge list of service providers that I have and haven't listed above to try: https://weboasis.app/media/host.pdf
I wish you all the best of luck, and I hope this helps someone out there. You too, now have the power to piss off the NGO's and journalists.
As a gift to all of you and our friends over at the Center for Countering Digital Hate, I will release a concise guide on running a controversial website. If you want to run a forum or site without dealing with de-platforming, I will provide detailed information below on how to do it. Many of the claims I will be making here have been tried and tested by myself and many other websites, but I want to give each one of you the power to create uncensorable, lawful platforms that protect free speech.
This guide assumes that you already know the basics of how a typical website works, a basic knowledge of PHP (or at least the ability to configure it), and how to configure it. You will also need to understand a LAMP or LNMP stack. You will need some knowledge of configuring servers if you're using a VPS or dedicated server, or you can use something like Centminmod to configure it, which still requires some knowledge. Below I will detail which services are best and which ones to avoid.
You have three main points of failure when someone tries to deplatform you: Your domain registrar, your DNS provider, and your web host. It is crucial that you have these 3 points fortified to ensure that you have made the best options when it comes to these providers. I will detail options for all 3 of these below:
Webhost: An excellent offshore web host is critical, as an unreliable host can quickly become a nightmare. Worst case scenario can leave you with no access to your files and having to start over if you don't have backups. Pick your host wisely, as it becomes hard to move your site the more it grows. I will give you all a small list of hosts that we have used in the past, in addition to good ones:
Hostfory (UA)
BuyVM (US)
Vanwatech (US)
Marbell (CH)
Spartanhost (US)
Vdsina (RU)
Veesp (RU)
Domain Registrar: There are many domain registrars, but not many that wouldn't fold after a few bogus abuse complaints. Picking your domain registrar and extension is very important and can be the difference between a functioning website with a web address or an inaccessible website. Ideally, you would want to pick a domain extension in a country that doesn't have ties to western countries, like China or Russia, but they have different domain regulations, too, so you need to watch out for that. Below I will detail the extensions and registrars that I would personally recommend and ones that I would avoid, like the plague.
Extensions:
.com .org or .net and most gTLDs: You should be fine to use any of these as long as you're not doing any illegal activity. You will most likely need to find a decent registrar that will not suspend your domains, and you should be fine.
.is: As long as you register your domain directly with ISNIC and use valid contact information, you should be fine to register a .is domain. They will only suspend your domain with a valid court order from an Icelandic court.
.st: As long as you get your domain directly through the registry, you should be good.
.su: An adversarial country to the west, Russia, this Soviet Union domain can be bulletproof if registered correctly. Under normal circumstances, it can be pretty effective under any Russian registrar.
.top: The TOP domain, owned by a Chinese company, puts it in an adversarial country. This extension is known for having more lax policies, so I recommend trying it with a Chinese registrar.
.ir: Another adversarial country, Iran, also offers domains. I have not seen a controversial website try this extension, so you enter at your own risk.
Registrars:
Chinese registrars like BizCN, Eranet, Todaynic, or NiceNIC are great options for registering your domain. As long as you're not breaking Hong Kong or Chinese law, you will be safe there.
Offshore domain registrars like Shinjiru or Openprovider are also great.
American registrars like VanwaTech, Epik, and Cloudflare are pretty good at tolerating complaints as long as you don't have illegal content on your site. So these are also good choices for registrars.
Avoid any mainstream domain provider at all costs. For example, do not register a domain at Godaddy or NameCheap, as they will suspend over a simple complaint with no evidence.
It would be best if you also avoided Njalla, as they will suspend and keep your domains randomly and give you no reasoning. In addition, they are not a domain registrar and will not allow you to transfer out if you transfer there. Finally, you will have no recourse if you lose your domains to them.
DNS: With your domain and hosting, you will need a DNS provider to point your visitors to the correct site. While there are many cases where your hosting provider hosts your DNS, this is often unreliable, and you will most like want to have your DNS hosted by an external provider. Sometimes these providers can provide built-in CDNs, edge caching, or other perks. Below is a list of providers I can recommend below:
Cloudflare: Cloudflare has superior service to any other provider. They have an impressive number of PoPs and offer an excellent free tier with many features. They are a solid choice as long as you abide by the law.
Vanwatech: This newer DNS/CDN provider hosts sites like 8kun and the Daily Stormer. They are a pretty good choice, especially considering that they are genuinely neutral and won't interfere with your services for the most part. In addition, the services themselves are a pretty good match to Cloudflare's, even though you don't get as many features as you would over at Cloudflare.
I can't, unfortunately, recommend any of the others, as I haven't tried them, but here's a huge list of service providers that I have and haven't listed above to try: https://weboasis.app/media/host.pdf
I wish you all the best of luck, and I hope this helps someone out there. You too, now have the power to piss off the NGO's and journalists.
