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New York Times shut down Tor Onion service
- tonymet 2y agorelated https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43246274 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43246274
- noident 2y agoWhatsApp and Telegram are hardly replacements for Tor access. A government can block them easily. The onion service's days were numbered after they fired Runa Sandvik. I'm surprised it lasted this long. Looking at the pay and current labor disputes, it seems like the New York Times isn't a good place for a skilled software engineer to work these days. They'll keep running SecureDrop over an onion service, right...?
- spyspy 2y agoRuna was a gem. Her firing was a huge blow to the company. Nobody of any note lasts very long at NYT.
- drweevil 2y agoAmen to that. I should have known she was behind the Tor link, which I used often. I'm disappointed in the Times. Nothing new there.
- mmooss 2y ago> WhatsApp and Telegram are hardly replacements for Tor access. A government can block them easily. Also, you tell a private company information that you are reading the NYT and which articles you read. If the NYT is banned or a signal of suspicion where you live, that doesn't help.
- keepamovin 2y agoLol it is not hard to create a hidden service: Prerequisites: - Linux: You may need `sudo` privileges to install Tor and modify system files. - macOS: Homebrew must be installed (`brew`) to manage Tor. - A web server must already be running on the specified local port (e.g., 8080). - Firewall: This function does not configure the firewall. Ensure that: - Tor’s default port (9050) is allowed. - Your web server’s port (e.g., 8080) is accessible locally. #!/usr/bin/env bash # Function to add a Tor hidden service for a local web server add_tor_hidden_service() { local local_port="${1:-8080}" # Default to 8080 if no port is provided local torrc="" local tordir="" local sudo_cmd="" local os_type="" # Detect OS and set paths if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "linux-gnu"* ]]; then os_type="linux" torrc="/etc/tor/torrc" tordir="/var/lib/tor" sudo_cmd="sudo -n" elif [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then os_type="macos" torrc="$(brew --prefix)/etc/tor/torrc" tordir="$(brew --prefix)/var/lib/tor" else echo "Error: Unsupported OS (Linux or macOS required)" >&2 return 1 fi # Install Tor if not already installed if ! command -v tor &>/dev/null; then echo "Installing Tor..." >&2 if [[ "$os_type" == "linux" ]]; then if [ -f /etc/debian_version ]; then $sudo_cmd apt update && $sudo_cmd apt install -y tor elif [ -f /etc/redhat-release ]; then $sudo_cmd yum install -y tor || $sudo_cmd dnf install -y tor else echo "Error: Only Debian or RedHat-based Linux supported" >&2 return 1 fi elif [[ "$os_type" == "macos" ]]; then brew install tor fi fi # Ensure Tor is running if [[ "$os_type" == "linux" ]]; then $sudo_cmd systemctl start tor elif [[ "$os_type" == "macos" ]]; then brew services start tor fi # Configure hidden service local hidden_service_dir="$tordir/hidden_service_$local_port" local dir_line="HiddenServiceDir $hidden_service_dir" local port_line="HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:$local_port" if ! grep -qF -- "$dir_line" "$torrc"; then echo "Configuring Tor hidden service..." >&2 echo "$dir_line" | $sudo_cmd tee -a "$torrc" >/dev/null echo "$port_line" | $sudo_cmd tee -a "$torrc" >/dev/null fi # Restart Tor to apply changes echo "Restarting Tor..." >&2 if [[ "$os_type" == "linux" ]]; then $sudo_cmd systemctl restart tor elif [[ "$os_type" == "macos" ]]; then brew services restart tor fi # Wait for onion address to be generated local onion_address="" for attempt in {1..30}; do if [[ -f "$hidden_service_dir/hostname" ]]; then onion_address=$($sudo_cmd cat "$hidden_service_dir/hostname") break fi sleep 1 done if [[ -z "$onion_address" ]]; then echo "Error: Failed to generate onion address" >&2 return 1 fi echo "Success! Your web server is now available on the Tor network." >&2 echo "Onion address: $onion_address" >&2 echo "$onion_address" } # Example usage # serve -p 8080 # add_tor_hidden_service 8080 add_tor_hidden_service "$@" Tested on macOS, probably good in other OS listed above. So run a server on a port. Then run this function. Boom, you have a hidden service. Mining for a nice vanity hostname might be more difficult tho! How would that be done?
- wkat4242 2y agoYeah only last year a court in Spain ruled to block telegram for everyone after some minor civil law disagreement. I had to scramble to set up an MTProxy for me and my friends (which was pretty easy with docker). Fortunately it never happened because the government called them back.
- luma 2y agoJournalists speak truth to power, meanwhile the NYT aligns itself with power at every opportunity. For example, they knew the NSA was spying on us but never ran the story to protect GW's chances at reelection. Presumably they didn't want to be seen as anti-establishment with the new powers and are reverting to their time-proven behavior. NYT will lick the boot when presented, same as ever.
- andreygrehov 2y agoThe answer is ad revenue. If you go against what your subscribers believe in, you lose money. If you lose money, you might lose your job. If you lose your job, you can't pay your mortgage.
- londons_explore 2y agoI suspect plenty of government money directly flows to newspapers as part of various campaigns to sway public opinion on certain politically important topics. Perhaps moreso outside the USA where just a handful of paid articles can sway some topic important for US foreign policy.
- throwaway48476 2y agoMiddle East governments are huge newspaper advertisers. The Chinese government has a propaganda page in the wsj.
- spyspy 2y agoBut then you introduce a subscription model and people decry how the good news is paywalled…
- c0nducktr 2y agoWhen the paywalled model is just as unwilling to go against its advertisers as the free model, it not surprising people aren't happy with the change.
- sharkjacobs 2y ago> Users who wish to continue reading Times journalism where their access to the main website may be blocked can do so through WhatsApp or Telegram. elsewhere, > Apple Says It Was Ordered to Pull WhatsApp From China App Store https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/18/technology/apple-whatsapp-china-app-store.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/18/technology/apple-whatsapp...
- lxgr 2y agoThe service itself isn’t available in China either anyway, I think.
- rsync 2y ago… or just walk right into the central Shanghai library and read the paper copy. This is possible and I have done it many times.
- uni_baconcat 2y agoYou know they tear off all pages of negative CPC reports, right?
- rsync 2y agoNo, I don’t know that because it is not the case. I have sat in that library and read the NYT with a big, loud, front page headline critical of China and the CCP. I have never seen pages missing.
- ch4s3 2y agoWhat does the June 3rd issue look like?
- uni_baconcat 2y agoUnfortunately, I have sat in that library last month too. Issues of latest magazines are missing, and some English books have entire chapters omitted.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- TZubiri 2y ago[flagged]
- yawnxyz 2y ago> deepened our understanding of reaching audiences that might otherwise be blocked from accessing our journalism > Users who wish to continue reading Times journalism where their access to the main website may be blocked can do so through WhatsApp or Telegram. https://archive.is/ https://archive.is/ is still the de-facto way to read NYT articles...
- duskwuff 2y agoThe fact that reading the NYT requires a paid subscription takes away a lot of the value of a Tor service. (Can you even buy a subscription over Tor? I doubt it; it'd be a fraud risk.)
- basedrum 2y agoOf course you can
- Scoundreller 2y agoFor a while, there was no paywall on NYT over Tor
- pogue 2y agoIs there an Onion archive.today?
- Scoundreller 2y agoYes, the tor browser will auto-advise you that a .onion link is available.
- bolognafairy 2y agoI would at the very least be hesitant to provide such a service, and I’ve gotta imagine that I’m far from alone :)
- nextts 2y agoWhy? It is the archivey bit that gets you in trouble, not the oniony bit.
- freen 2y agoChilling effects and all that. Complying in advance with the expectation of attacks on first amendment rights only emboldens autocrats and smooths their path to total control. https://lithub.com/resist-authoritarianism-by-refusing-to-obey-in-advance/ https://lithub.com/resist-authoritarianism-by-refusing-to-ob...
- lordofgibbons 2y agoNYTimes lost any and all credibility when they hired a literal Israeli Military Intelligence propagandist to write the their headline shock inducing piece on 40 beheaded babies, infants in ovens, and mass rape. These have all been widely been debunked, including by Israeli media. But NYT never retracted their propaganda piece. This gave a free hand for the IDF, with U.S backing, to commit mass murder on an industrial scale in Gaza. How are they even relevant anymore, and why do people pay to consume literal foreign propaganda? The purpose of the news media is to inform, but these guys are doing the complete opposite. https://x.com/zei_squirrel/status/1761740292015767736 https://x.com/zei_squirrel/status/1761740292015767736 https://theintercept.com/2024/02/28/new-york-times-anat-schwartz-october-7/ https://theintercept.com/2024/02/28/new-york-times-anat-schw...
- yieldcrv 2y agoTo continue on this Israeli Jewish citizens criticize the war People abroad criticize the war But outside the country, many Jewish people abroad defend it and have this wildly incendiary defense mechanism against the people abroad, as if every critique from anyone is part of a thinly veiled movement to disrupt their right to existence Why cant the rest of us be assumed to be at parity with Israeli citizen’s critique? so unproductive
- realusername 2y agoIt's always been a very bad newspaper internationally, we could mention the Irak war cover or the constant attacks of EU countries.
- throwaway48476 2y agoOr covering for Stalin and denying the famine in ukraine.
- realusername 2y agoThey really did that? I'm a bit surprised, for me the NYT is the definition of the atlantist newspaper, up to the absurd.
- cantrecallmypwd 2y agoAnother act of bending the knee, just like when they axed Chris Hedges in the patriotic military invasions.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- lxgr 2y agoDespite the symbolism, does this change anything about their reachability from Tor? Is there any practical advantage to a website in being explicitly reachable as a hidden service on Tor, as opposed to simply not blocking exit node IPs?
- heavyset_go 2y agoAssuming your adversary is a state with access to certificates, a malicious or compromised exit node could lead to your de-anonymization and access to information you may want to keep confidential or hidden. Your connection to an onion service is end-to-end encrypted and authenticated, as well, which means no MitM can trick you or sniff your traffic.
- lxgr 2y agoAh, no reliance on the web PKI is a very good point (especially if their site also accepts document drops etc) I didn't consider, thank you!
- marc_abonce 2y agoI don't know if there's any benefit for the end user, but I think it helps with the reliability of the Tor network because onion sites are accessed by normal Tor nodes, not exit nodes[1]. This means that if you access the onion version of a site you're "relieving" the exit nodes from the extra traffic, which is good because exit nodes already have to handle a massive amount of traffic from all the requests to the surface web. [1] https://community.torproject.org/onion-services/overview/ https://community.torproject.org/onion-services/overview/ [1.5] http://xmrhfasfg5suueegrnc4gsgyi2tyclcy5oz7f5drnrodmdtob6t2ioyd.onion/onion-services/overview/index.html http://xmrhfasfg5suueegrnc4gsgyi2tyclcy5oz7f5drnrodmdtob6t2i...
- notepad0x90 2y agoIsn't it a paywalled service? How do people use it? they access it anonymously and then pay with a card?
- thinkingemote 2y agoFirst pay for the service (on non-tor system if the payments provider doesnt like Tor), then on Tor you can input your username and password like you would as normal. Tor doesn't stop people users voluntarily de-anonymising themselves for specific sites. It does stop curious entities on the network from seeing what people do.
- notepad0x90 2y agothat makes sense I guess, if you don't consider NYT themselves a potential threat actor that might nullify your anonymity.
- entriesfull 2y agoGood riddance. We The People will continue to build open and decentralized/anonymous platforms that don't spread government propaganda.
- mmooss 2y agoWhere do you get good information?
- beardog 2y agoReddit still has an onion service but is defacto unusable
- marc_abonce 2y agoKind of, it depends. In my experience so far, Reddit blocks Tor nodes about 20% of the times or so. More specifically, it seems to return a 429, probably because someone tried to abuse Reddit from the same node and Reddit banned the IP. In my experience, this is just as likely to happen with the onion site or the www address. That being said, I only lurk so I don't know if there are any additional restrictions when trying to log in. Is that the same issue you have or is it something else?
- DeathArrow 2y agoIf my life or my freedom would be at stake, I wouldn't rely on TOR for anonymity.
- ilikehurdles 2y agoWhy is that?
- halJordan 2y agoIn fact it's quite the opposite. If you need to do something to save your life and youre weighing the decision of take no action vs take action via tor; you and anyone else would take the risk with tor.
- t0bia_s 2y agoWould be interesting to see statistics of how many unique visits per day through onion on NYT was made.
- mlinksva 2y ago> we are now taking these learnings and applying them to building out our main page and signature products I'd love (genuinely, this is not a snarky comment) to read more about either (learnings, application) or of course both.
- aendruk 2y agoThey started serving an expired TLS certificate on 2024-12-08. I inquired about it a few days after but never heard back.