Anti-censorship tool opens new rift between lawmakers and tech companies

Lawmakers are turning up the pressure on Google and Amazon to reconsider their ban on a powerful anti-censorship technique used by millions of people worldwide to bypass restrictions on Internet access. Sens Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) are calling on the companies to explain their abrupt decision to prohibit “domain fronting,” which allows users to visit blocked websites and use restricted applications by disguising the actual destination of Web traffic. The move exposes a new front in the clash between lawmakers and tech companies, this time over their role in promoting free speech and open Internet access in repressive countries. And the attention from lawmakers could throw an important lifeline to political dissidents, persecuted groups and others seeking to communicate and browse the Web without alerting government censors. Sens Rubio and Wyden say they’re worried that Google and Amazon made the changes without considering the fallout for people in countries that tightly control Internet access such as China, Iran, Russia and Egypt.