Compliance Management, Privacy, Threat Management

Tor provides access as social media blocked during attempted military coup in Turkey

Share

As the Turkish government allegedly blocked access to social media during what was reported as an attempted military coup, The Tor Project said Friday that people can use the Tor browser to reach Facebook, Twitter and the free Internet.

While Android users can download the Orbot app to gain Internet access, The Tor Project warned in a release sent to SCMagazine.com that “no cellular device can offer location anonymity because they ping to cell towers.”

The White House released a statement saying that President Obama had spoken with Secretary of State John Kerry about the events unfolding in Turkey. And Turkey Blocks, which monitors censorship in the country, initially tweeted that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube had been blocked after "an apparent military uprising" but later tweeted that its "data indicated a 2 hour period of social media throttling but no evidence of a full internet blackout."

Separately, The Tor Project noted that since Tor is blocked in a number of countries, including Syria, China and Iran, it has “developed a system of bridges--ways for people to access the Tor browser even if it's supposedly blocked.”

When the Tor website itself is blocked, potentially preventing users from downloading Tor, the organization suggested using one of the mirror recommended sites or emailing The Tor Project at the "Get Tor" multilingual robotic email system.

Get daily email updates

SC Media's daily must-read of the most current and pressing daily news

By clicking the Subscribe button below, you agree to SC Media Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.