The current Turkish government is imposing a new restriction towards access in The Onion Router (Tor) services. The country is known for years to suppress dissent and journalists, and now it is turning its attention towards the freedom of internet access.

Internet advocacy group Turkey Block recently confirmed that the Tor anonymity network has been blocked in the country. In a statement acquired by Digital Trends, Turkey Block said, "Our study indicates that service providers have successfully complied with a government order to ban VPN services."

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Turkey Block said that some users claimed that they can still access Tor services by using bridge connections, although employing this workaround will severely affect connection speeds.

The Turkish government issued an order to Internet service providers (ISPs) to start blocking Tor and other VPN services early in December. Moreover, the government is also asking these ISPs to provide weekly updates regarding the status of the operation, according to BBC.

Tor is an anonymity service that conceals the browsing footprints of users when they go online. Tor uses a sophisticated protocol of encryption and random bouncing of packets through connected networks in order to hide the user's location.

Aside from imposing censorship on contentious practices like rallies and the printed media, the recent ban on Tor services is seen by many as a precautionary measure of the current regime to suppress dissent. Online services like WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube have all been blocked in the country. Online sharing services like Dropbox, GitHub, Google Drive, and OneDrive have all been restricted as well.

TagsTurkey, Tor, Tor, Tor, The Onion Router, Internet, Anonymous