Tor Project Wants to Establish 200 WebTunnel Bridges Amid Russian Crackdown

The Onion Routing (TOR) Project has launched a new initiative to counter escalating internet censorship in Russia.

The organization calls on volunteers to establish 200 WebTunnel bridges, a recently introduced technology that makes it harder for authorities to detect and block Tor traffic.

Russia Escalating Censorship

According to an official blog post, the appeal comes in response to reports from Russian users struggling to access Tor due to aggressive government measures. These include the removal of circumvention apps from app stores and targeted actions against bridge hosting providers.

We are calling on the Tor and Internet freedom community to help us scale up WebTunnel bridges. If you've ever thought about running a Tor bridge, now is the time. Our goal is to deploy 200 new WebTunnel bridges by the end of this December (2024) to open secure access for users…

— The Tor Project (@torproject) November 28, 2024

This follows a history of Russian efforts to suppress internet freedom, including a failed attempt to block Tor in 2021.

Russia’s efforts to restrict internet freedom are part of a broader campaign to exert control over digital spaces.

Authorities have invested heavily in technology to filter and block content, with plans to modernize their internet-blocking systems at a cost of over $600 million in the next five years.

#Russia: on 11/30, sites providing info on VPNs will be blocked. Over 1/3 of Russians use?VPNs, which help bypass?????'s?censorship of independent outlets . RSF condemns this serious violation of the right to reliable information.?https://t.co/yxHfL4fleK pic.twitter.com/CGMgqMduKB

— RSF (@RSF_inter) November 25, 2024

This push aligns with legislation introduced in 2019, granting the government power to isolate the Russian internet.

Tor’s Response to Internet Censorship

In its effort to enable Russian users to bypass authorities’ internet censorship, Tor introduced WebTunnel bridges in March 2024 to mask Tor traffic as ordinary internet activity to enhance their resilience against censorship.

With only 143 bridges currently active, Tor wants to strengthen its network to ensure reliable access for users in restricted regions.

Setting up a WebTunnel bridge requires a static IPv4 address, a self-hosted website, an SSL/TLS certificate, and at least 1TB of monthly bandwidth.

The Tor Project emphasized that these new bridges are crucial for enhancing resilience against censorship, particularly in regions like Russia where traditional protocols like Obfs4 and Snowflake face partial or complete blocks.

This initiative underscores Tor’s ongoing mission to maintain open access to the internet.?

The technology originated in the mid-1990s through the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and became publicly available in 2003.

Today, it is a critical tool for users in repressive regions seeking to bypass restrictions.