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The Tor-Blocking Scare Is a Reminder of How Important Facebook Is to Dissent

Facebook's unrivaled size and scope shouldn't be brushed aside.
Photo of protests in Istanbul by Eser Karadağ/Flickr

This morning, a false news report that Facebook was blocking logins from the anonymous-browsing Tor network hit the US blogosphere and quickly went viral. The report from Arab Crunch gave readers some idea of what this would mean: "Thousands of political activists at risk," the headline read.

Hours later, the Tor Project cleared up the confusion, writing on its blog that failed connections were caused by "malicious activity" on the network and that Facebook wasn't deliberately blocking anonymous users.

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Netizens around the world who had tried to access Facebook from Tor, only to be met with error messages, assumed the social network was purposefully blocking the Tor software. The suspicion isn't terribly surprising considering distrust in tech companies to protect our online privacy is at an all-time high. But the fact that the knee-jerk reaction was to assume Facebook was purposefully strangling privacy and anonymity is telling. The resulting fear of what Facebook blocking Tor would mean for thousands of demonstrators around the world is a testament to the social network's importance in dissident communication.

Facebook and Twitter have been credited with the success of activist demonstrations around the world. Clearly, its use as a platform to share information and organize rallies would be seriously compromised, even backfire, if the site couldn't be accessed and used anonymously. So much of the credit is owed to Tor, which is frequently lauded as a tool for protecting online privacy, avoiding internet censorship, and promoting free expression. The software even won an award for its role in pro-democracy movements in the Middle East.

Facebook, on the other hand, didn’t set out to be a tool for revolutionaries, and hasn’t done much to position itself as an instrument of social change over the years. But its unrivaled size and scope—1.11 billion users from more than 200 countries, versus Twitter's 500 million—shouldn't be brushed aside, no matter how irritating Facebook can be as an endless stream of vapid, self-aggrandizing posts.

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That said, the tech giant’s loyalty to its role as protector of free expression has been under the gun of late. Disparate reports claimed that Facebook was unfairly censoring them for posting sensitive material, although it's unclear why and if that happened. Anonymous went so far as to organize a day of protest against Facebook censorship. "We have witnessed an increased number of account blocking and deletion by facebook, of users who dare to ridicule, mock, satirize or speak out against political leaders or corporations heavily involved with politics," Anon News wrote.

Where does Facebook stand in all this? As the MENA media site Wamda pointed out this morning, the company gave a head-nod to its influence in changing society in a statement when it filed to IPO:

There is a huge need and a huge opportunity to get everyone in the world connected, to give everyone a voice and to help transform society for the future…

We hope to change how people relate to their governments and social institutions. We believe building tools to help people share can bring a more honest and transparent dialogue around government that could lead to more direct empowerment of people, more accountability for officials and better solutions to some of the biggest problems of our time.

If Facebook did actually blocked Tor, there’s always Twitter, or another social network—though none come close to the reach that Facebook has. Plus, hackers would doubtlessly find a way around it. (PSA: The Tor Project has some tips on what to do if you're blocked.)

It's still unclear what kind of malicious activity prompted the blocks. According to the Tor blog, "Tor and Facebook are working together to find a resolution."