One of our colleagues has been the target of a sustained campaign of harassment for the past several months. We have decided to publish this statement to publicly declare our support for her, for every member of our organization, and for every member of our community who experiences this harassment. She is not alone and her experience has catalyzed us to action. This statement is a start.
The Tor Project works to create ways to bypass censorship and ensure anonymity on the Internet. Our software is used by journalists, human rights defenders, members of law enforcement, diplomatic officials, and many others. We do high-profile work, and over the past years, many of us have been the targets of online harassment. The current incidents come at a time when suspicion, slander, and threats are endemic to the online world. They create an environment where the malicious feel safe and the misguided feel justified in striking out online with a thousand blows. Under such attacks, many people have suffered — especially women who speak up online. Women who work on Tor are targeted, degraded, minimized and endure serious, frightening threats.
This is the status quo for a large part of the internet. We will not accept it.
We work on anonymity technology because we believe in empowering people. This empowerment is the beginning and a means, not the end of the discussion. Each person who has power to speak freely on the net also has the power to hurt and harm. Merely because one is free to say a thing does not mean that it should be tolerated or considered reasonable. Our commitment to building and promoting strong anonymity technology is absolute. We have decided that it is not enough for us to work to protect the world from snoops and censors; we must also stand up to protect one another from harassment.
It's true that we ourselves are far from perfect. Some of us have written thoughtless things about members of our own community, have judged prematurely, or conflated an idea we hated with the person holding it. Therefore, in categorically condemning the urge to harass, we mean categorically: we will neither tolerate it in others, nor will we accept it among ourselves. We are dedicated to both protecting our employees and colleagues from violence, and trying to foster more positive and mindful behavior online ourselves.
Further, we will no longer hold back out of fear or uncertainty from an opportunity to defend a member of our community online. We write tools to provide online freedom but we don't endorse online or offline abuse. Similarly, in the offline world, we support freedom of speech but we oppose the abuse and harassment of women and others. We know that online harassment is one small piece of the larger struggle that women, people of color, and others face against sexism, racism, homophobia and other bigotry.
This declaration is not the last word, but a beginning: We will not tolerate harassment of our people. We are working within our community to devise ways to concretely support people who suffer from online harassment; this statement is part of that discussion. We hope it will contribute to the larger public conversation about online harassment and we encourage other organizations to sign on to it or write one of their own.
For questions about Tor, its work, its staff, its funding, or its world view, we encourage people to directly contact us (Media contact: Kate Krauss, press @ torproject.org). We also encourage people join our community and to be a part of our discussions:https://www.torproject.org/about/contacthttps://www.torproject.org/docs/documentation#MailingLists
In solidarity against online harassment,
| Roger DingledineNick MathewsonKate KraussWendy SeltzerCaspar BowdenRabbi Rob ThomasKarsten LoesingMatthew FinkelGriffin BoyceColin ChildsGeorg KoppenTom RitterErinn ClarkDavid GouletNima FatemiSteven MurdochLinus NordbergArthur EdelsteinAaron GibsonAnonymous SupporterMatt PaganPhilipp WinterSina RabbaniJacob AppelbaumKaren ReillyMeredith Hoban DunnMoritz BartlMike PerrySukhbir SinghSebastian HahnNicolas VigierNathan FreitasmeejahLeif RygeRuna SandvikAndrea ShepardIsis Agora LovecruftArlo BreaultÁsta HelgadóttirMark SmithBruce LeidlDave AhmadMicah LeeSherief AlaaVirgil GriffithRachel GreenstadtAndre MeisterAndy IsaacsonGavin AndresenScott HerbertColin MahnsJohn SchrinerDavid StaintonDoug EddyPepijn Le HeuxPriscilla OppenheimerIan GoldbergRebecca MacKinnonNadia HeningerCory SvenssonAlison MacrinaArturo FilastòCollin AndersonAndrew JonesEva Blum-DumontetJan BultmannMurtaza HussainDuncan BaileySarah HarrisonTom van der WoerdtJeroen MassarBrendan EichJoseph Lorenzo HallJean CampJoanna RutkowskaDaira HopwoodWilliam GillisAdrian ShortBethany HorneAndrea ForteHernán FoffaniNadim KobeissiJakub DalekRafik NaccacheNathalie MargiAsheesh LaroiaAli MirjamaliHuong NguyenMeerim Ilyas | Randy BushZachary WeinbergClaudio GuarnieriSteven ZikopoulosMichael CeglarHenry de ValenceZachariah GibbensTim SammutNeel ChauhanMatthew PuckeyTaylor R CampbellKlaus LayerColin TebergJeremy GillulaWill ScottTom LowenthalRishab NithyanandBrinly TaylorJonah Silas SheridanRoss McElvennyAaron ZaunerChristophe MoilleMicah SherrGabriel RochaYael GrauerKenneth FreemanDennis WinterjustaguyLee AzzarelloZaki ManianAaron TurnerGreg SlepakEthan ZuckermanPasq GeroPablo Suárez-SerratoKerry RutherfordAndrés DelgadoTommy CollisonDan LueddersFlávio AmieiroUlrike ReinhardMelissa AnelliBryan FordhamNate PerkinsJon BlanchardJonathan ProulxBunty SainiDaniel CrowleyMatt PriceCharlie McConnellChuck PetersEjaz AhmedLaura PoitrasBenet HitchcockDave WilliamsJane AvrietteRenata AvilaSandra OrdonezDavid PalmaAndre N BatistaSteve BellovinJames RenkenAlyzande RenardPatrick LoganRory ByrneHolly KilroyPhillipa GillMirimirLeah CareyJosh SteinerBenjamin Mako HillNick FeamsterDominic CorriveauAdrienne Porter Feltstr4dAllen GunnEric S JohnsonHanno WagnerAnders HansenAlexandra SteinTyler H. MeersShumon HuqueJames VasileAndreas KinneJohannes SchillingNiels ten OeverDavid W. DeitchDan Wallach | David YipAdam FiskJon CallasAleecia M. McDonaldMarina BrownWolfgang BritzlChris JonesHeiko LinkeDavid Van HornLarry BrandtMatt BlazeRadek ValasekskruffyTom KnothGalou GentilDouglas PerkinsJude BurgerMyriam MichelJillian YorkMichalis PolychronakisSilenceEngagedKostas JakeliunasSebastiaan ProvostSebastian MaryniakClytie SiddallClaudio AgostiPeter LaurMaarten EyskensTobias PullsSacha van GeffenCory DoctorowFredrik Julie AnderssonNighat DadJosh L GlennVernon TangJennifer RadloffDomenico LupinettiMartijn GrootenRachel HaywireeliazHenriette HofmeierEthan HeilmanDaniël VerhoevenAlex ShepardMax MaassEd AgroAndrew HeistPatrick McDonaldLluís SalaLaurelai BaileyGhostJosé Manuel Cerqueira EstevesFabio PietrosantiCobus CarstensHarald LampesbergerDouwe SchmidtSascha MeinrathC. WatersBruce SchneierGeorge DanezisClaudia DiazKelley MisataDenise MangoldOwen BlackerZach WickGustavo GusAlexander DietrichFrank SmythDafne Sabanes PlouSteve GiovannettiGrit HemmelrathMasashi Crete-NishihataMichael CarboneAmie StepanovichKaustubh SrikantharlenEnrique PiracésAntoine BeaupréDaniel Kahn GillmorRichard JohnsonAshok GuptaBrett SolomonRaegan MacDonaldJoseph SteeleMarie GutbubValeria BetancourtKonstantin MüllerEmma PerskySteve WyshywaniukTara WhalenJoe Justen |
If you would like to be on this list of signers (please do — you don't have to be a part of Tor to sign on!), please reach us at tor-assistants @ torproject.org.