Delivery speed
Throttling
Deliberately degrading connection speed to specific services.
Read the definitionThe definition and detection notes below retain the published reference wording. They are not a current network test.
01 / Definition
What it means.
Throttling reduces bandwidth to targeted services without fully blocking them. This makes services unusably slow while maintaining plausible deniability—authorities can claim technical issues rather than censorship.
Throttling is particularly effective against video streaming, VoIP, and large file transfers where reduced bandwidth renders services impractical. It's harder to detect than outright blocking because connections technically succeed.
02 / How We Detect This
What we look for.
We measure download speeds to test endpoints and compare against baseline measurements. Consistent speed degradation to specific services while other traffic performs normally indicates throttling. We account for network congestion by testing across multiple time periods and comparing to control measurements.
03 / Examples
What it can look like.
YouTube buffering while other sites load quickly
VPN connections slow to unusable speeds
Messaging app media downloads timing out
Illustrative examples from the glossary, not incident reports or live observations.
Sources
Read the original.
Reference context & original shorthand
Published bypass label: Moderate to bypass.
This is the original index’s editorial shorthand. Actual access depends on the network and technique; this label is not a guarantee. The glossary has no per-entry publication or review date.
Related links lead to definitions in the published glossary.
Complete definition →