[tor-talk] Tor's reputation problem with pedo, some easy steps the community could take

[Roger Dingledine]

On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 01:32:59PM -0400, Chris Patti wrote:
> As a newcomer to Tor, as I explored the various onions out there, I felt as
> if practically everywhere I turned there were links taking me to pedo
> sites, IRC channels etc.

Hi Chris,

I agree with you. Part of what we have done a poor job communicating
is that hidden services are a tiny fraction of overall Tor use. The
wikipedia article on Tor is mostly written by hidden service enthusiasts
(as far as I can tell), which further misleads people.

> I recognize that free speech means free speech for everyone, even those
> with views that we find objectionable, but there's nothing to stop the
> community from turning a cold shoulder to these people who see informed
> consent as being an optional or academic concept.

That's just the thing. This phrase "the community" assumes there's just
one community. Most Tor users just use Tor to get around surveillance
or censorship, to reach normal web sites. They wouldn't know what you
mean by the community.

I guess that leads to a very clear item that people can help with: we
need somebody to take charge of the Tor wikipedia page and make it more
accurate / useful.

That said, there are actually some very good uses of hidden services
happening right now. But they try not to be high profile (that's partly
the point, right?)
https://blog.torproject.org/blog/using-tor-good

--Roger