Twitter’s Tor service, which allowed users to circumvent censorship and access the platform in countries with strict restrictions, is no longer operational.
The Tor Project, a non-profit organization responsible for the maintenance of software for the Tor network, confirmed that Twitter’s onion site is no longer available with no immediate plans to renew it.
Now, when visiting Twitter’s Tor onion website, a warning message appears, stating that its certificate has expired and users are directed to an error page if they proceed.
“People who rely on onion services for an extra layer of protection and guarantee that they are accessing the content they are looking for now have one fewer way of doing so safely,” said Pavel Zoneff, the group’s communication director. “That’s why we feel it necessary to highlight all the ways in which Tor supports a community of global internet users in accessing information freely and safely.”
Twitter launched its Tor service in 2022 after Russia blocked access to the website. A Tor service allows users to visit online destinations that are restricted in their country and protects them from surveillance through anonymization features that encrypt traffic. It’s especially useful for people residing in countries with stringent censorship legislation, including North Korea and China.
Despite Twitter’s initial launch of its Tor service, there are yet to be any announcements on its revival. Alec Muffett, who helped Twitter’s engineers adopt Tor services last year, informed The Verge that the people he interacted with are all gone. He expressed his doubts that the service would continue to work entirely unless Elon Musk decides to take an interest.
Since Musk purchased Twitter in 2022, the company has laid off thousands of workers, including employees who supported his vision for the website. Only 1,300 employees remain from the 7,500 employees who worked for Twitter before the change in ownership.