Update: The Daily Stormer was at least temporarily back online on DreamHost under a different URL, punishedstormer.com. It has now been banned again.
The battle against the Daily Stormer has ended in retreat as the racist website has pulled back to the dark web where it is available only via Tor. Former gray hat hacker Andrew Aurenheimer announced the impetus for the decision on alt-right website Gab.
The website is now accessible via tools like the Onion browser and the address is available on Wikipedia. The server, now hidden from all registrars and hosting providers, could exist anywhere and there is no clear way to tell if any one company is or is not hosting the site.
In short, it’s far harder to access the Daily Stormer for the average user but now it is nearly impossible to shut it down without Silk Road-like intervention and tracking.
Admins at GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, SendGrid, and Google dropped the site after the alt-right protests in Charlottesville. The hunt for Daily Stormer’s service providers began after the murder of Heather Hayer by an alt-right protester.
A spokesperson for the Tor project noted last week that while it does not support the Daily Stormer its tools are for all wishing to speak freely.
“We are disgusted, angered, and appalled by everything these racists stand for and do. We feel this way any time the Tor network and software are used for vile purposes. But we can’t build free and open source tools that protect journalists, human rights activists, and ordinary people around the world if we also control who uses those tools. Tor is designed to defend human rights and privacy by preventing anyone from censoring things, even us,” wrote admin Steph. “Tor stands against racism and bigotry wherever and whenever such hatred rears its ugly head. It is our work to provide everyone with the best possible security and privacy tools so human dignity and freedom can be promoted all over the world.”
