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Turkey Blocks Tor's Anonymity Network (engadget.com)

Posted by msmash on from the my-place-my-rule dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Turkey's President Erdogan and the ruling AKP party are increasingly bent on silencing online dissent, and that now affects you even if you're smart enough to evade typical censorship methods. Watchdog group Turkey Blocks has confirmed that Turkey is blocking the Tor anonymity network's direct access mode for most users. You can still use a bridge mode for now, but there are hints that internet providers might be hurting performance even then. The restrictions come alongside a recent government ban on virtual private network services.

5 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. Got nothing to hide? by Calydor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you have nothing to hide you should have nothing to fear.

    Wait. Oh, I'm sorry.

    If you have nothing to hide you should hope the leader of your country doesn't suffer from delusional paranoia and sees enemies everywhere.

    --
    -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    1. Re:Got nothing to hide? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Coup attempt? You mean the "fake news" coup attempt whereas Erdogan then used as an excuse to kill anyone he considered an enemy?
      You need to expand your information gathering to outside the basement.

    2. Re:Got nothing to hide? by Richard_at_work · · Score: 3

      Its not out of the question that the coup attempt was manufactured just so Erdogan could clamp down as he has - blaming an elderly exiled cleric in the US, arresting thousands of teachers and university professors, doctors, police etc. Invading Syria (that one hasnt made the news much - Turkey currently has a significant amount of armoured fighting vehicles and troops hundreds of miles within Syria right now). Increased action against the Kurds.

      I'm not entirely convinced there was ever an opposition capable of initiating a coup, certainly not one which has tendrils the length of which Erdogan is suggestimg with his detentions...

  2. Prove your innocence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If I have nothing to hide, then they have no reason to spy on me. If they're making me prove that I have nothing to hide, then I must not be innocent.

    The moral of this story is "prove your innocence". That's what mass surveillance really is -- an attack on the basic principle of innocent before proven guilty. If that sounds like something a third-world dictatorship would do, it's because that's exactly what third-world dictatorships do.

  3. Help people in Turkey access Tor by Shane_Optima · · Score: 4, Informative

    TFS neglects to mention that anyone with a halfway decent internet connection can help people in countries like Turkey evade censors by running a Tor bridge. It appears to be extremely simple to set up. Note that this is a hidden entry node and not an exit node, so your ISP isn't going to be sending you nasty letters.

    Yes, there ss an open moral question there given the significant number of nefarious uses of Tor. However, I suspect most of those users aren't going to bother with a bridge... and I happen to think that free speech is something that's worth fighting for. You know, the real thing. Criticism of politicians. Coverage of news events that are being actively suppressed by government censors. This is about actual free speech by any sane definition.