Facebook Can Be Accessed Where It's Banned via Tor Support: Report

In what can allow many people in countries like China and Iran use Facebook where it is banned or censored, the social networking site has reportedly tweaked its software that links the site on smartphones to an "anonymizer" that hides their location and identity, the media reported on Saturday.

This is how it works:

Facebook's app for smartphones that use Android operating system recently got a feature that gives users access to Facebook via the Tor browser.

According to a voanews.com report, the app allows users to circumvent censorship and shield their privacy. The Tor browser is free and Facebook users with Android smartphones can install a mobile Tor app called Orbot.

Now rap a button in the Facebook app and be automatically connected to Facebook through the Tor network.

Responding to reports that the added Tor support could lead to access in censored zones, Facebook said the "tweak" has not been designed with China and Iran in mind.

However, industry analysts see the "anonymizer" feature as a tool to expand Facebook's reach even further and deeper among smartphone users.

Tor was created by United States Naval Research Laboratory as a way to protect secret data sent over the internet.

Facebook currently has nearly 1.5 billion monthly active users.

Written with inputs from IANS