This may be useful in countries where the social networking platform is blocked including China
According to reports by BBC, social media platform Facebook has created the ability for users to connect directly to the social network via anonymising dark web service called Tor.
Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features.
Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.
Meanwhile, Facebook has changed its stance on Tor traffic and will now provide users with a way to connect to its free content ad network using the anonymising service.
Graphic credit: Tor
The company has said that it will now offer a special URL – https://facebookcorewwwi.onion – that will allow users running Tor-enabled browsers to access the service.
Facebook had previously blocked Tor access, citing security concerns and the possibility that Tor could be used to conduct attacks on its servers.
Users could access the site without losing the cryptographic protections of Tor, Facebook added in a report.
It may appeal to people in places where the network is blocked including China, Iran, North Korea and Cuba as reported by the BBC.
The report further elaborates that thesocial networking platform Facebook is the first Silicon Valley giant to provide official support for Tor, a network built to allow people to visit web pages without being tracked and to publish sites whose contents would not show up in search engines.
Read the full reportage here
Also check the platform Tor: www.torproject.org
Map: Countries that have blocked Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced a complete ban on social media platform Twitter ahead of the elections. Earlier there were reports that the country would take this stand because international communities scoured Twitter for information and reportage.
Erdogan announced that Twitter was now disabled in the country. “We’ll eradicate Twitter,” he had said in a report.
Meanwhile, let us tell you that Turkey is not the only country that has resorted to blocking social media. Below is a comprehensive map that highlights countries that block social media. The mediums include Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
This data was compiled with help from Google's transparency report, Twitter, and the OpenNet Initiative, a partnership between the University of Toronto, Harvard, and the SecDev Group in Ottawa.
It doesn't take into account countries like India where only certain pages or videos may be censored.
Plus, Google and Twitter don't list their services as being blocked in Cuba, but social networks there are difficult to access because of additional expenses.
Iran: Iran has blocked Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube on since they were banned in 2009 following Iran's contentious presidential elections.
China: China blocked Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in 2009. The Twitter and Facebook bans took place after a peaceful protest by Uighurs, China's Muslim ethnic minority, broke into deadly riots in Xinjiang.
Vietnam: Over the last couple of years, there have been widespread reports of Facebook being blocked in Vietnam. The block is fairly easy to bypass, and many Vietnamese citizens use the social network. However, in September 2013, Vietnam passed a law prohibiting citizens from posting anti-government content on the social network.
Pakistan: In September 2012, Pakistan blocked YouTube after the site reportedly refused to take down an anti-Islam video that sparked protests in the country. The block has continued through March 2014, according to Google reports.
North Korea: Internet access is highly restricted in North Korea. South Korea followed suit instantly.
Eritrea: According to Reporters Without Borders, in 2011, two of the country's major internet service providers blocked YouTube. Google does not include Eritrea on its list of countries in its transparency report that currently block YouTube, but notes that the list is not comprehensive and may not include partial blocks.
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