Security News > 2022 > January > Tor Project appeals Russian court's decision to block access to Tor
US-based Tor Project and Russian digital-rights protection org RosKomSvoboda are appealing a Russian court's decision to block access to public Tor nodes and the project's website.
The non-profit Tor Project operates the Tor decentralized network, which runs on top of the Internet, allowing users to bypass censorship, access websites anonymously, and visit special Onion URLs accessible only over Tor.
"Russia is the country with the second-largest number of Tor users, with more than 300,000 daily users or 15% of all Tor users. As it seems this situation could quickly escalate to a country-wide Tor block, it's urgent that we respond to this censorship! We need your help NOW to keep Russians connected to Tor!" read a Tor blog post at the time.
Today, in coordinated announcements, RosKomSvoboda and the Tor Project explain that the Saratov district court in Russia ordered the block after the prosecutor's office learned that the Tor network allows access to the "Federal List of Extremist Materials," a list of works banned in Russia.
"With the help of attorneys from RosKomSvoboda, Darbinyan Sarkis and Abashina Ekaterina, we are appealing the court decision and we hope to revert this situation and help create a precedent in Russia for digital rights," said Isabela Bagueros, Executive Director of the Tor Project.
Volunteers have also contributed over 1,000 additional Tor bridges that are not currently blocked, allowing Russian people to access the Tor network and counter government censorship.