Each node can only decrypt its own part of the message, and only obtain the information intended for itself. That is, from which node it got the message, and to

Each node can only decrypt its own part of the message, and only obtain the information intended for itself. That is, from which node it got the message, and to which node it should deliver the message. With only access to this information, it is thought to be very difficult for nodes in the network to know what information they are carrying or who is communicating with whom. Caveat: this won’t work against global passive adversaries (those who can see a significant portion of traffic going in and out), nor against governments willing to intercept and implant the hardware with backdoors. I find it interesting that in the early days of crypto, people were hopeful that such fates might be avoided. But here we are, mostly subservient to a few large corporations —- and also to each other, since we carefully watch what we say. In other words, the goal is to widely broadcast as many thoughts as possible, for most people. That seems to be in direct opposition with what the early creators of crypto imagined would happen, which is a neat outcome (for better or worse).