The board of trustees overseeing the Kilton Public Library in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, on Tuesday decided, despite pushback from the United States Department of Homeland Security, to reinstate a Tor relay the board had approved in an effort to enhance privacy on the Internet. The library board drew the attention of Homeland Security when the board decided in June to make the Kilton Public Library the first library in America to install a Tor relay. After Homeland Security promptly responded by telling state and local government officials that the Tor relay may aid criminals, the board had suspended the relay.
Vocal support in the community aided the library board in its decision to reinstate the Tor relay. Nora Doyle-Burr reports in the Concord Monitor that “a full room of about 50 residents and other interested members of the public expressed their support for Lebanon’s participation in the [Tor] system” at the board’s Tuesday meeting.
Similarly, vocal public support buttressed local California politicians in the Bay Area and Davis in their efforts to reject armored vehicles the US government provides to local police. And vocal public support has been key for state and local governments across America moving away from participating in the war on marijuana.
While Americans may often feel there is no hope against oppressive government, occurrences such as with the Kilton Public Library this week show that determined local action can successfully counter the US government leviathan.
