Is Tor legal in China? What the law says

As of November 2026, the legal position of using Tor in China is unclear and risky. We found no law that names Tor, but rules dating from 1996 forbid connecting to the international internet through unapproved channels,^[1] and some people have been penalised for using unapproved VPNs.^[2] The Great Firewall also blocks Tor’s ordinary connections.^[3]

Is it illegal to use Tor in China?

No law or regulation we found mentions Tor. The relevant rule is article 6 of the State Council’s Interim Provisions on the Administration of International Networking of Computer Information Networks, issued in 1996 and revised in 1997. It says networks that connect internationally must use the international gateways of the state’s public telecom network, and that “no unit or individual may set up or use other channels” to connect internationally (our translation). Under article 14, the police can order the connection stopped and give a warning, may add a fine of up to 15,000 yuan, and confiscate any “illegal income”.^[1]

We found no official statement on whether Tor counts as such a channel, and no published case about Tor itself. Authorities have penalised unapproved VPN use on similar grounds, though. In 2020, Sixth Tone reported that authorities in Hunan had penalised a man for using unauthorised VPN software to reach overseas sites, under regulations that allow connections to international websites only through government-approved channels.^[2]

What do China’s rules on VPNs say?

In January 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) launched a clean-up of the internet access market that ran until 31 March 2018. Its notice told telecom regulators, operators and internet access businesses that, without approval from the telecom authorities, they may not “set up or rent dedicated lines (including virtual private networks, VPNs) or other channels” to carry out cross-border business. International leased lines rented to customers must be for their “internal office use” only (our translation).^[4]

A newer State Council regulation on network data security, in force since 1 January 2025, adds a line in its chapter on cross-border data. No individual or organisation may provide “programs or tools specially designed to break or circumvent technical measures”, or knowingly give technical support or help to others doing so (our translation). It doesn’t define those measures or mention VPNs, and we found no official guidance on whether it covers tools like Tor.^[5]

Who has been punished?

Most enforcement has fallen on sellers. Sixth Tone reported in 2020 that “providers of unlicensed VPNs are routinely fined and even jailed in China”, while “police action against individual users is relatively rare”.^[2] The Dui Hua Foundation, which tracks Chinese court cases, found that a court in Guangxi sentenced a man to five and a half years in prison in December 2017 for selling VPN access without a business permit (a retrial was ordered in 2018 for insufficient evidence). It found five more cases in which 17 people were sentenced for selling VPNs between 2017 and 2019.^[6]

Users have been penalised too. In August 2023, a programmer was fined 200 yuan for using an “unauthorized” VPN to work for an overseas company, and police confiscated the roughly 1.1 million yuan he had earned in the job as “illegal” income, according to Freedom House.^[7]

Is Tor blocked in China?

Yes. Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net 2024 report on China says Tor “is blocked in China”.^[7] OONI, the Open Observatory of Network Interference, which collects network tests run by volunteers, recorded 5,544 Tor tests from China between 1 May and 10 November 2026. Of those, 95% flagged anomalies, OONI’s term for signs of possible blocking.^[3]

The blocking goes beyond a simple list. In 2012, researchers at Karlstad University described how the Great Firewall had blocked the Tor website and the public Tor network by their IP addresses, then went further. Its equipment recognised Tor connections from their traffic, and Chinese IP addresses then probed the suspected bridge (an unlisted entry point to Tor) and blocked it if it answered like Tor.^[8]

What are the risks of using Tor in China?

• Legal penalties. Breaking the 1996 rules can bring a warning, a fine of up to 15,000 yuan and confiscation of income,^[1] and people who sold VPN access have been jailed.^[6]
• Being noticed. The Great Firewall has been shown to recognise Tor traffic.^[8] A bridge reduces the chance that someone watching your connection learns you use Tor, but the Tor Project says perfect anonymity is generally impossible, even with Tor.^[9]
• Your identity. Freedom House notes that “anonymous communication is severely limited”: web services must register users under their real names and national ID numbers.^[7]
• Fake downloads. A Kaspersky report in October 2022 found spyware bundled inside an inauthentic version of Tor advertised in China.^[7]

What does the Tor Project advise for China?

We describe this so readers can weigh it, not to encourage anyone to break local law. The Tor Project’s guidance for China, current as of November 2026, says to get Tor Browser from its Telegram bot, @gettor_bot, or by emailing gettor@torproject.org with “windows”, “macos”, “linux” or “android” as the subject, and recommends verifying the download’s signature.^[10]

If Tor is blocked, Tor Browser’s Connection Assist tries a bridge or Snowflake on its own. If that fails, the Tor Project suggests WebTunnel bridges, which make Tor look like an ordinary HTTPS connection to a website. You can get them from @GetBridgesBot on Telegram (send /webtunnel) or from the advanced options on the Tor Project’s bridges website.^[10]

The fallbacks are Snowflake, which connects through short-lived proxies, and meek, which is slow because of a bandwidth limit. The guidance doesn’t mention obfs4 bridges for China. For help, it offers its support team on Telegram and Signal, or email to frontdesk@torproject.org with “connect cn” in the subject.^[10]

The Tor Project says WebTunnel is supported in Tor Browser for desktop and Android.^[10] For phones, see Tor on iPhone and Android, and for how Tor works, our guide to Tor Browser. For other countries, see Is Tor legal? A country-by-country guide, including our pages on India and Australia.