Facebook blocked Tor

Reports emerged Tuesday morning that the anonymity software Tor was blocking users from connecting to Facebook.

It turns out the social networking site wasn't purposely barring access for Tor users, but flagging the service due to malicious activity on its network.

"Facebook is not blocking Tor deliberately," the Tor Project wrote in a blog post. "However, a high volume of malicious activity across Tor exit nodes triggered Facebook's site integrity systems, which are designed to protect people who use the service."

Tor and Facebook are working together to correct the issue.

The project was thrust into the spotlight after video showed NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had a Tor sticker on his laptop. 

In addition, Tor has been mentioned as a viable technological means for protecting oneself against online government surveillance. Facebook is one of the companies named as participating in a secret, U.S. government-run mass data collection effort known as Prism.

This article originally appeared at scmagazineus.com