Force sites to use http instead of https?

Question

I'm in China trying to jump the GFW (great firewall) using a program called Ultrasurf (proxy).

I can access the Facebook homepage - no problem. But as soon as I try logging in, it directs me to an https login site and then gets blocked. I have the same problem with Twitter and other (usually) blocked sites that use https.

I was just wondering if there was anyway to force these sites to use http instead of https. I'm not worried about security, because my traffic is already encrypted through the SSL that Ultrasurf uses.

If there's anything else that might be causing this problem, I'd love to hear it. :-)

Running Linux Ubuntu 10.10 on an Acer notebook.

Answer 1

Are you sure that you wouldn't be better suited using a VPN service?

I know that you're entrusting your whole browsing life with a single company, but you'd be more shielded from the Great Firewall, IMHO.

I can vouch for proXPN speed and stability (although I'm in Europe), but I've found what seems at least a confirmation that it works in China. (Actually, it only officially support Windows, Mac OS X and iPhone, but you should be able to use the iPhone instructions to set up Ubuntu -- see this thread for reference).

Moreover, a VPN encrypts everything between you and them.

And if you are scared that the VPN service can snoop around everything you do on the Internet, keep in mind that SSL encrypts everything, even the URL.

Google provides encrypted search, both Gmail and Hotmail provide all-time HTTPS encryption (not only at login), Facebook doesn't automatically provides HTTPS encryption but you can just put https in front of the URL and seems to be fairly secure (at least Google Chrome recognizes it as secure, although you can't use chat if you're under https).

Answer 2

On both Facebook & Twitter, HTTPS browsing is optional. To force these sites to use HTTP, follow the reverse of what is said in this article.