[tor-relays] Tor project helping to attempt to cancel Richard Stallman

[Matthew Finkel]

On Fri, Mar 26, 2021 at 2:49 PM William Kane <ttallink at googlemail.com> wrote:
>
> Also, more information would be nice - just some "Please shut down all
> of your relays, because I / they have a problem with X" isn't very
> descriptive.
>
> Just did some own research:
>
> "The group recently reappointed the controversial developer and
> activist to its board; he had previously departed in the wake of
> sexual-harassment allegations and comments he made about the Jeffrey
> Epstein case that many found repellent."
>
> Ah, I see, feminists and leftists must be triggered right now, but how
> does this relate to the Tor Project or Mozilla in anyway? Sure, it's
> not the best PR for both but if he's a valuable (code) contributor I'd
> let it slip - anyone remember the Freedom of speech principle?

That's unfortunate because this attitude is counter to the Tor community we are
building:
https://gitweb.torproject.org/community/policies.git/tree/statement_of_values.txt

"""
Community health is a shared responsibility. By making the community more
inclusive and welcoming, we build a stronger and more resilient Tor. Perfection
is not required; a commitment to continuous improvement and learning is.
"""

We can't simply "turn the other cheek" because we must be better than that. We
cannot let misconduct and offenses "slip" for the sake of (code)
contribution. We
do not live in a cypherpunk/meritocratic crypto-utopia of the 1990s.

>
> I thought this is why we were doing all this.

There isn't one single reason why people contribute and volunteer
within and around
the Tor community. However, that may be your reason for volunteering
your time and
resources.

>
> My relay will still stay online for the time being, but I'd seriously
> reconsider priorities here - surely, they shouldn't be political - who
> cares what anyone thinks.

I'm sorry, but Tor is actually a policy statement and its implementation:
anonymity-by-default, privacy-by-design, censorship circumvention; Tor
is not a neutral
party in the debate on free access to cryptography.

The Tor Project having (and voicing) an opinion on these topics, as
well as other topics
within the larger free software community, are not out of scope and,
this should not be
a surprise.

I hope you continue running your relay and continue supporting the Tor network
and its users. Your contribution makes the network stronger for everyone.