Twitter Launches a Tor Service To Secure Tweets, and Have Access in Russia!
Twitter’s Tor service has finally launched, helping its users in Russia get back on the platform after the government blocked access. According to information from Engadget, Twitter has implemented a solution to respond to the recent decision by the Russian government, which would have blocked access to social networks.
In addition to Twitter, the Russian territory’s regulator would also have blocked access to Facebook, as well as to certain “Western” press organs such as the BBC. However, this time, Twitter has launched a service that allows you to escape this censorship in other parts of the world. The tech giant has launched its own Tor onion service, which not only helps Twitter users evade any bans or geo-blocks but also allows users to be anonymous while using the service.
As such, Twitter’s Tor service also prevents surveillance activities and further protects users’ privacy, while helping them evade censorship. Software engineer, Alec Muffett broke the news about the new Tor service on Twitter. He began his announcement by noting that it was “ probably the most important and long-awaited tweet I’ve ever composed .” He told The Verge in an interview that he had been in talks with Twitter since 2014 to get the microblogging site to launch its onion Tor services.
A Tailor Made Service
Twitter’s Tor service is based on the Enterprise Onion Toolkit, which was specifically tailored for Twitter’s massive user base to “ meet extraordinary production requirements ”, the software engineer said. Twitter’s onion service is available at Twitter when using Tor Browser or a similar tool. While you could already access Twitter’s regular website from Tor, the newly released version adds additional layers of protection to the already anonymous browsing experience and is designed specifically for the network.
Tor encrypts web traffic and routes it through a series of servers to hide user credentials. It’s a popular way to access sites subject to internet censorship, making it particularly relevant since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, which led to a Russian crackdown on Twitter, Facebook, and other independent information services.
Facebook Also Has Such a Service.
Meanwhile, Engadget noted that Twitter has not made any official announcement regarding its brand new Tor service to avoid any “spike load”, which, in turn, could render it unusable for users who need it. Not needed anymore.
In 2014, another social media platform, Facebook, launched its own Tor service, offering its users the ability to be anonymous online. Mark Zuckerberg-run social network Facebook previously said in 2016 that tons of users choose to access its website from its Tor service. To be more specific, the blue giant said that it garnered over 1 million users every month.