New York Times Launches Its Website on the Tor Network
While many people still think of the darknet as a place only for buying illegal substances and weapons, the New York Times has opened up new possibilities by making news accessible through the darknet. On the 27th of last month, the New York Times announced the launch of its website on the Tor network: https://www.nytimes3xbfgragh.onion/. This launch is considered an “experiment in secure connection” within the darknet, and the resource is only accessible via Tor.
The Times also noted that this service is still in development, and there are no guarantees that certain features, such as logins and comments, will work properly. The project is being implemented in stages.
This means that some features, like user logins and comments, are disabled until the next phase of development. The site’s performance is being fine-tuned, so there may be occasional outages, which the Times is working to fix. Their goal is to provide functionality that is at least as convenient as what is currently available on the main New York Times website.
Why the New York Times Launched a Tor Site
The Times stated:
“The New York Times reports on stories from around the world, and our journalism is read by people everywhere. Some readers prefer to use Tor to access our journalism because they are technically blocked from accessing our website; or because they are concerned about local network monitoring; or because they care about online privacy; or simply because it’s the method they prefer.”
In some parts of the world, governments have regulations that control internet use, including blocking certain websites like the NYT. Now, anyone with access to Tor can privately and securely access the Times without interference from anyone.
Features and Technical Details
The site currently supports three languages: English, Spanish, and Chinese.
The New York Times also stated that their Tor site is built using the open-source Enterprise Onion Toolkit, which automates service management and makes the process more transparent.
Users who find bugs or issues with the service are encouraged to report them by emailing [email protected].