Russia puts ‘internet freedom’ on the back burner, blocks privacy website service Tor – Tech Observer

As part of a major crackdown on “free internet”, the Russian administration, while tightening state surveillance over internet activity, has announced the blocking of the Tor privacy service website. The state communications regulator accused him of allowing access to illegal content.

The regulator, Roskomnadzor, said the website www.torproject.org had been banned based on a court ruling. “The motives for this were the placement of information on this website which enables the operation of tools providing access to illegal content,” Roskomnadzor said in a statement.

“Today, access to the resource has been restricted.” Tor did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. During this time, Tor’s website went down in Russia. Access to the Tor browser and other elements of the Tor infrastructure was limited.

The Tor anonymity network is used to mask the IP addresses of computers in order to conceal the identity of an Internet user. Russia has sought to block at least 14 VPNs this year, but some services are still operational.

Foreign tech companies are under increasing pressure on the content shared on their platforms, as well as demands that they set up offices on Russian soil, but Russia has also targeted virtual private networks (VPNs), in a campaign that , critics say, stifles internet freedom.