The BBC, in an effort to combat media, has made a version of each website available on Tor. Tor is a browser that focuses on privacy and makes it harder for users to track their online activity. Some countries, such as China, Iran, and Vietnam, have tried to block access to Tor.
Tor has led many young people to use the browser for illegal purposes. It has also been used to access “black markets” such as Silk Road.
Alec Muffett, an Internet security expert who helped both the BBC and the New York Times set up their onion domains, told NPR that Tor is more than just a tool to access the "dark web."
It takes its name from “onion routing,” a technique where messages sent over online networks are encapsulated in various layers of encryption, similar to the layers of an onion. These encryption services are accessible in the Tor browser on sites that use the .onion extension.
The regular BBC site is accessible on the Tor website, but it does not use an onion domain.
The BBC hopes that their new browser presence will allow people in restrictive governments to watch the British news channel on a secure platform.
"BBC World Service news content is now available on the Tor network to audiences living in countries where BBC News is blocked or restricted," an online statement said.
Muffett says that as more and more “high-profile” websites start to be published on onion domains, the more secure the browser becomes.
Onion routing was developed by three scientists at the US Naval Research Laboratory in the mid-1990s. The US government is still a major funder of the Tor project.
