New Hampshire Library Rejects DHS Fearmongering, Turns Tor Back On

from the congrats! dept

Last week, we posted the story of how the Kilton Public Library in Lebanon, New Hampshire, had been pressured to turn off its Tor relay after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had reached out to the local police department to express concern over the library's decision, and freaking out because "criminals can use Tor." After being approached by the police, the library agreed to shut down the relay, while setting up a meeting to discuss if the library should turn it back on. Apparently, last week's press attention helped bring out lots of folks who very strongly supported turning Tor back on.

Boston librarian Alison Macrina, who runs the Library Freedom Project and helped the library set up Tor in the first place, was tweeting up a storm last night, and it sounded like a lot of people showed up to make it clear that (1) the DHS could go pound sand and (2) the library should turn its Tor node back on:

This is just about my favorite thing ever. pic.twitter.com/7qqSV3snqr

— Alison Macrina (@flexlibris) September 16, 2015

Multiple people apparently spoke about how this is absolutely the kind of project that libraries should support, and that protecting anonymous browsing was an important thing to have in the world. And, in the end, success:

#KiltonLibrary WE'VE DONE IT. THE KILTON LIBRARY WILL TURN THEIR #TOR RELAY BACK ON!!!

— Alison Macrina (@flexlibris) September 15, 2015

This is amazingly good news, and as Macrina noted after: "This was a public referendum about privacy, free speech, and what libraries do." And all three of those things came out winners.

Oh, and even better: it appears that the publicity around this and the success last night may be inspiring other libraries to set up their own Tor relays as well.

Filed Under: alison macrina, dhs, law enforcement, library, police, tor, tor relay
Companies: kilton public library