This is What a Tor Supporter Looks Like: Giordano Nanni

Giordano Nanni was a Tor supporter long before anyone at Tor actually knew him personally. Giordano and rap artist Hugo Farrant created the project called Juice Rap News in 2009. "We were adamant about using our respective art forms to bring attention to the issues that we care about,” Giordano says. “We are the generation that is living in the age of the advent of Internet. We are unique in this regard; no other generation will be like ours. We therefore have the blessing and also the responsibility of being the ones who’ll shape the Internet’s future."

Giordano and Hugo began posting Juice Rap News episodes in 2009 from Giordano’s house in Melbourne. "Episode 4 was our first episode about the Internet," Giordano says, "and we used the example of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange to explore the concept of digital rights and the importance of the Internet. It really struck a chord with people, and this encouraged us to keep going in that direction. We quickly grew from a little project that only few knew about to really having an audience. We went on to produce 35 episodes covering a wide range of subjects; but the topic of the Internet has always remained a constant theme throughout the series."

Giordano has fond memories of the events that led to the making of Juice Rap News episode 15: "Big Brother is WWWatching You" in which George Torwell makes his first appearance. "Jake [Appelbaum] came to Melbourne in 2012 to speak at a couple of events. While he was here he contacted us to say he’d like to meet up, and we all met for coffee,” he says. "Later on, we went to the beach and talked. Jake explained how Tor works by drawing onion router diagrams in the sand." Major data retention laws were being brought forward in Australia at the time, and by the end of their conversation, Giordano and Jake agreed on the need to create a Juice Rap News episode focused on surveillance, pointing to Tor as a solution.

Through Juice Rap News, Giordano and Hugo brought their creativity and humor to bear on the issues that concern them most, and Giordano continues that in his current work with the Juice Media channel—like his newest video: "A Message from George Orwell", in which George Torwell makes a new appearance to raise awareness about why digital rights matter.

"I feel that one of the unique responsibilities of our generation is to ensure that the foundation for the Internet is based in strong ethics of justice and transparency, as a democratic platform for openness and free speech", Giordano says. "Our mission with The Juice Media is really to explain these issues in an easy-to-understand way, and to make it fun."

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