Others have suggested interesting and valuable possibilities. Here's another: Why think about this so categorically? Mightn't the degree and type of harm also b

Others have suggested interesting and valuable possibilities. Here's another: Why think about this so categorically? Mightn't the degree and type of harm also be a factor? Tor gives people a way to anonymously download child porn. These are probably people who would download child porn anyway and, while I certainly don't approve of even a single intentional download, I do wonder how much harm is caused by a single download. It's not zero, but it's a lot less, I think, than the harm of shooting someone. On the other side, it is also, apparently, much less likely that any given gun sale is going to lead to a murder. But it's possible that the moral arithmetic still works out to significantly greater average harm. We should also think about the potential benefits in the same way. Both Tor and guns supposedly have some capacity to protect/foster democratic government. One should also compare the probability of these positive outcomes.