Dear relay operators,
Last week, we kicked off a campaign to grow the number of Tor WebTunnel
bridges. And the response has been amazing! In less than five days,
we've already increased 80+ new WebTunnel bridges!
Today is 'Cyber Monday', and it's a good opportunity to take advantage
of special offers from hosting providers and contribute to this
campaign.
Learn how to join this campaign below or read our blog post for
more details: Tor in Russia: A call for more WebTunnel bridges | The Tor Project
Thank you for running relays & bridges,
Gus
## Summary
We are calling on the Tor community and the Internet freedom community
to help us scale up WebTunnel bridges. If you've ever thought about
running a Tor bridge, now is the time.
Recent reports from Tor users in Russia indicate an escalation in online
censorship with the goal of blocking access to Tor and other
circumvention tools. This new wave includes attempts to block Tor
bridges and pluggable transports developed by the Tor Project, removal
of circumvention apps from stores, and targeting popular hosting
providers, shrinking the space for bypassing censorship. Despite these
ongoing actions, Tor remains effective.
One alarming trend is the targeted blocking of popular hosting providers
by Roscomnadzor. As many circumvention tools are using them, this action
made some Tor bridges inaccessible to many users in Russia. As
Roscomnadzor and internet service providers in Russia are increasing
their blocking efforts, the need for more WebTunnel bridges has become
urgent.
## Bridge campaign rules for participation
The campaign starts today, November 28, 2024, and will run until March
10, 2025. As a token of our appreciation for your volunteer work, we're
offering a Tor t-shirt to operators who run 5 or more WebTunnel bridges
during this period.
Please note: Only one t-shirt will be awarded per operator. See the
technical requirements below to participate in the campaign.
WebTunnel deployment guide: Tor Project | WebTunnel Bridge
## Technical requirements to join this campaign
1. Operators must run one WebTunnel bridge per IPv4. It is acceptable to
use multiple subdomains or distinct domains.
2. Include a valid email address as your contact information. Or we
won't be able to confirm and validate your participation in the
campaign.
3. Maintain your bridges running for at least 1 year.
4. Ensure your bridges have a solid uptime, operating close to 24/7.
Reboots for updates are fine.
5. Your bridge must remain functional during the campaign period.
6. Do not host your bridges with Hetzner. See: Недоступность Hetzner - Russia - NTC
## How to participate
After spinning up and verifying that your 5 WebTunnel bridges are
working, confirm your participation by emailing frontdesk@torproject.org
with the following template:
Body:
Hi,
I'm signing up for the Tor Bridge Campaign. These are my bridges:
<Add here your bridge lines>
My t-shirt is (pick your size: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/community/team/-/wikis/tshirts/tshirt-size-charts).
To validate your participation, please contact us using the same email
address listed in your contactinfo. You can expect your reward to be
shipped in Q2 2025.
···
Subject: Participation in Bridge Campaign 2025
--
The Tor Project
Community Team Lead