Mexico restores access to main government site over TorCEFR B1
3 Mar 2026
Adapted from Jacobo Nájera, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Jorge Aguilar, Unsplash
Access to Mexico's federal government websites over the Tor network was blocked across at least the last two six-year presidential terms and into the first year of the current administration, according to reporting and published data. A study on October 9, 2023 found that 21 government agencies blocked access from Tor. Under a prior administration the government even created a Tor-accessible whistleblower mailbox and issued rules saying confidentiality must be protected.
The Enrique Pena Nieto administration did not acknowledge the blockage. Under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador the government acknowledged it maintained the block and said it acted for security reasons, arguing that measures to block malicious or automated traffic can also affect Tor users.
The Tor Project said technical workarounds exist. Pavel Zoneff, a Tor spokesman, said sites can reduce risk while still allowing Tor users access and can defend against threats like DoS attacks and bots without blocking many legitimate users.
On May 6, 2025 the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo said it had no policy position or documented justification to block www.gob.mx. On July 5 monitoring confirmed the block on www.gob.mx was lifted, but datos.gob.mx remains blocked and the earlier Tor-accessible whistleblower mailbox was disabled and replaced with the SIDEC platform, which does not permit Tor access.
Difficult words
- whistleblower — person who reports wrongdoing inside an organization
- confidentiality — keeping information secret and private
- block — stop or prevent access to somethingblocked, blockage
- administration — group in government that leads a country
- workaround — way to avoid a technical problemworkarounds
- justification — reason or explanation why something is done
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Do you think governments should allow access from anonymity networks like Tor to public websites? Why or why not?
- What problems might appear if a government blocks anonymous access to public services?
- How could a website try to protect against bots and DoS attacks while still allowing legitimate anonymous users?
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