

Ask PG: Accessing HN via Tor - jnhnum1

It seems that Hacker News is inaccessible via Tor.  Is this because of manual blocking of exit nodes, and if so can this blocking be lifted (at least for read access)?
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gems
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5864439](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5864439)

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kogir
Confirmed. The IP bans are mostly automated. If an exit node is blocked, it's
because someone else ruined the fun for everyone.

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hmsimha
I hope that this doesn't also mean that running a Tor exit node puts you at
risk of getting banned (from HN or elsewhere). I think the people running exit
nodes are providing an essential community service, and I would hate to think
this might be how they're thanked.

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fulafel
Wikipedia bans your IP from editing if you run a Tor node. It definitely
biases their content and discourages operation of Tor nodes.

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tptacek
Wikipedia bans Tor editors because editors who use Tor are overwhelmingly
doing so to avoid bans. I'm sure there are a subset of Tor editors who are
good-faith contributors, but, just like with HN, a bad-faith majority has
ruined it for them.

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coreyja
I just tried this myself to verify that I couldn't reach it through Tor and I
couldn't either. I agree that there should be at least read access for people
browsing with Tor.

Also, I would be curious to hear from PG (or others) what went into the
decision making process to make this site (or others) not accessible from Tor.

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meowface
Unfortunately easily accessible proxies, like Tor, are very frequently abused
by spammers and other script kiddies. It's easy to write, or use, a bot that
takes in a long list of proxies (or uses the Tor daemon API to frequently
acquire a new circuit) and spams a website with hundreds or thousands of
submissions per minute.

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jongraehl
I'd hesitate to use any of your existing regular-internet accounts over Tor.
Start with a fresh browser.

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RachelF
Part of HN's deal with the NSA ;-)

