Twitter is creating a Tor-based service, optimising the site for the privacy- and censorship-protecting network. Alec Muffett, a software engineer, shared the news on Twitter today, calling it “probably the most significant and long-awaited tweet I’ve ever composed.” Tor has also been added to Twitter’s list of supported browsers.
Twitter is creating a Tor-based service that will enable users to tweet in a more secure and private manner
While using Tor Browser or a similar tool, you can access Twitter’s onion service at https://twitter3e4tixl4xyajtrzo62zg5vztmjuricljdp2c5kshju4avyoid.onion. While Tor users could previously visit Twitter’s regular website, the newly unveiled version adds additional levels of protection to the already anonymous browsing experience and is optimised for the network.
Onion services are occasionally referred to as hidden services or “dark web” services, although the latter term is frequently used to refer to openly illicit websites such as the Silk Road drug market. Numerous websites, notably the DuckDuckGo search engine and news organisations such as The New York Times, the BBC, and ProPublica, offer Tor-specific versions.
Tor encrypts web traffic and passes it across a network of servers in order to conceal users’ identifying information. It’s a popular method of accessing websites that are subject to internet censorship, which has made it all the more pertinent in the aftermath of Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine, which prompted a Russian crackdown on Twitter, Facebook, and independent news organisations. In December 2021, some internet service providers began restricting Tor itself, but the Tor Project reported that the extent of blockage has varied and that Russian users can still connect via a Tor bridge.
Additionally, having a different access path enables companies such as Facebook and Twitter to more easily monitor criminal activity that use Tor (such as automated scraping or attacks on the site) without restricting or downgrading service for legitimate users. Even though the majority of people do not use Tor to access Twitter, this is an upgrade for those who do — and a step toward wider acceptance of the system.