I only know a little bit about tor, but my understanding is that if you run a relay, then you are basically proxying traffic for other people on the tor network.
If this is true, and if someone is looking at kiddie porn through your connection, could you get implicated?
If you're running an intermediate node, then you're proxying an encrypted datastream from one node to another. You don't know what's in the datastream, who it's from (the endpoint), or where it's going (the other endpoint). See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_routing
That's still a legal gray area. The short answer is maybe, but the EFF will probably take your case if you get in legal trouble.
> Can EFF promise that I won't get in trouble for running a Tor relay?
> No. All new technologies create legal uncertainties, and Tor is no exception. Presently, no court has ever considered any case involving the Tor technology, and we therefore cannot guarantee that you will never face any legal liability as a result of running a Tor relay. However, EFF believes so strongly that those running Tor relays shouldn't be liable for traffic that passes through the relay that we're running our own middle relay.
If this is true, and if someone is looking at kiddie porn through your connection, could you get implicated?