[tor-bugs] #23270 [Core Tor/Tor]: Allow Tor relays to be configured to block selected hidden services, including racist hate sites

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#23270: Allow Tor relays to be configured to block selected hidden services,
including racist hate sites
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 Reporter:  cypherpunks                          |          Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement                          |         Status:  closed
 Priority:  Medium                               |      Milestone:  Tor:
                                                 |  unspecified
Component:  Core Tor/Tor                         |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal                               |     Resolution:  invalid
 Keywords:  racism, hate, anti-fascism,          |  Actual Points:
  probably-bad-idea, slippery-slope,             |
Parent ID:                                       |         Points:
 Reviewer:                                       |        Sponsor:
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Comment (by orthecreedence@…):

 I'm not a contributor, but a regular user of Tor. I am compelled to weigh
 in.

 I think in a free society, censorship is a much greater evil than any one
 idea. In fact, censorship is one of the main tools used in a fascist
 regime. Consider that:

 You are asking to fight fascism by employing fascistic tactics. This is
 the height of hypocrisy, and the ends DO NOT justify the means, nor do I
 believe it would even have the intended effect.

 If fascism is really such a bad thing, then won't most people realize
 that? Won't they be able to read the arguments for and against and make up
 their own minds? Why is it ok to take that deciding power away from
 people? Because fascism is "evil?" Evil by your standards, but to others,
 a valid form of government. Who's right?

 And now that it's suddenly ok to censor fascism, why not censor other
 things? Couldn't communism and socialism be considered "evil" considering
 how many regimes have used it as a tool for installing fascist
 governments? Is single payer health care evil? Some might say so. What
 about capitalism? Will sites exploring these ideas be censored as well
 based on the whims of those who participate in the network?

 So now the Tor network becomes fragmented by people all censoring things
 they think shouldn't be said. Routes become a lot more complicated to
 calculate, and depending on your loaded route, certain websites just don't
 load.

 Great job, you've weakened the entire network because you think "fascism
 is evil." You've taken a tool (NOT a tool for "good" or "bad" but a tool)
 and made it less useful for everyone because you want to force your own
 political viewpoints onto it.

 Sounds like a really awful idea to me. Sure, fascism is bad. But censoring
 it via the Tor network is not just magnitudes worse, but in itself an evil
 act.

 I don't want Tor to "protect" me from fascism. I want open access to all
 information without censorship.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/23270#comment:23>
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