The directory servers select the entry, relay, and exit nodes. Tor doesn't work without them.
It would certainly take a major coordinated effort for all of the countries to fall in line in order to shutdown the directory servers, no question.
The likelihood of it ever happening? It's certainly plausible, but I'm still mixed on if realistically feasible. Though, that's exactly the point of my earlier note. The fact that it is even possible, should be alarming. And as you bring up, the West is now increasingly becoming anti-free-speech, often targeting activists. Which I acknowledge the correctness in nostr:npub16r0tl8a39hhcrapa03559xahsjqj4s0y6t2n5gpdk64v06jtgekqdkz5pl saying in most cases those arrested were due to bad OpSec. That's absolutely true.
However, as far as I know, the likes of fiatjaf couldn't one day decide which Nostr relays/nodes he likes/dislikes and effectively shut down any of them by having some centralized directory servers signal to "nostr browser" that they should no longer use those relays/nodes, unlike what the Tor Project can do.
So, there is an element of centralization that folks should be more aware of with Tor. What they do with this information is up to them. At no point have I said people should stop using Tor, simply by knowing said information.
Okay, earlier I responded without this context. That's certainly a reasonable and fair criticism. That's the downside of centralization but its also what makes the Tor network somewhat stable. Suppose they were shutdown though, could the Tor Project just roll out an update to the Tor Browser with new hardcoded directory servers?
You'll be hard pressed to find literally anything that's not under some kind of surveillance or intelligence sharing agreement like the 14 eyes or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. When you consider that, the fact the servers are operated by some good people, and understand the role of the directory servers then it's not a huge deal.
moria1: MIT
tor26: Karsten Loesing
gabelmoo: Leibniz Universität Hannover
dizum: Peter Palfrader
tonga: The Tor Project
dannenberg: The Tor Project
maatuska: CCC (Chaos Computer Club)
faravahar: Amini Ghafoor
bastet: Nicholas Merrill, The Calyx Institute
Instead, you should consider the other problems with Tor. It's susceptible to a variety of attacks.
Client Attacks:
Induced Tor Guard Selection: Manipulating a user's selection of Tor guards to increase the chances of using compromised nodes.
Low-resource Routing: Forcing traffic through low-bandwidth nodes to facilitate timing analysis.
P2P Information Leakage: Exploiting peer-to-peer applications to reveal a user's real IP address.
Plug-in Based Attacks: Using browser plugins to bypass Tor protections and expose user identity.
Raptor Attacks: Analyzing traffic patterns to identify hidden services.
Torben Attacks: Monitoring and manipulating guard relay selection to deanonymize users.
Unpopular Ports Exploitation: Targeting less common ports to track specific traffic.
Server Attacks:
Caronte Attacks: Using false circuit-level information to intercept and manipulate Tor traffic.
Cell Counting and Padding: Analyzing the size and timing of Tor cells to deduce user activity.
Off-path MitM Attacks: Intercepting communication between Tor nodes without being directly in the path.
Tor Cells Manipulation: Injecting or modifying cells within the Tor network to track users.
Network Attacks:
Denial of Service: Disrupting Tor nodes or the network to degrade service.
Malicious Relays: Operating Tor nodes with the intent to spy on traffic.
Sniper Attacks: Overloading specific relays to take them offline.
Tor Bridge Discovery: Finding and blocking Tor bridges to prevent bypassing censorship.
Traffic Analysis: Examining patterns and volume of traffic to infer user activities.
Timing Attacks: Correlating the timing of traffic entering and exiting the Tor network to track users.
Website Oracles:
Website Oracles: Using various public infrastructure and data points to infer the websites visited by Tor users.
That's endearing, but there truth of the matter is that we're animals that eat other animals just like they would to us. We tend to elevate pets to a status of family or friend but that's just a convenience for us because we hold them as house slaves for our amusement. They'll still eat you if given the chance. I would agree, however, that we overfarm animals and we could definitely do better in that regard because it's bad for our environment and food quality, it's also morally unnecessary.