Drug dealers, contract killers, pedophiles: The darknet is too oftenassociated with crime. But it’s also an essential space for freedom ofexpression.
Surfing online without leaving any traces: It’s possible on the darknet,where websites can be visited anonymously, in encrypted form — and that ofcourse attracts criminals.
Every now and then, authorities manage to bust cybercrime structures. OnTuesday, the public prosecutor’s office in Koblenz in southwest Germanyannounced that they had shut down DarkMarketlink,which was “probably the largest illegal marketplace on the darknet.” Itsoperator was arrested and around 20 servers in Ukraine and Moldova wereconfiscated.
Almost everything could be traded on DarkMarket: 56 grams of pure heroincould be ordered for €900 ($1,000), a semi-automatic machine gun for €300.A list of FBI agents’ social security numbers was available for €300, whileFacebook passwords from 100,000 users were on sale at a bargain price of€30.WikiLeaks wouldn’t exist without Darknet
Such criminal transactions shape the image of the darknet in the publiceye. Hardly no one associates the network with topics such as peacemovements, whistleblowing or freedom of expression, even though they arealso closely linked to the darknet’s existence.
For instance, WikiLeaks, the platform through which secret documents of theUS government have been released since 2006, would not be possible withoutthe darknet. Through the anonymization network Tor — the name of thebrowser that leads to the darknet — files can be easily encrypted anduploaded anonymously.
“The Tor browser also enables people to surf the internet anonymously andaccess censored websites,” explains Lisa Dittmer of Reporters WithoutBorders. Through her work as the organization’s advocacy officer forinternet freedom, she knows that there are some countries where freeexpression of opinion would not be possible without the darknet.Darknet bypasses censorship on the internet
“Chinalinkisprobably the best-known example,” said Dittmer. “North Korealinktoo,of course. In those countries, social networks such as Facebook areblocked. And there are more and more countries that are expandingsurveillance and censorship of the internet, for example Iranlinkand Russialink.”
The darknet also plays an important role in current protest movements, forexample in the Belarusian demonstrationslinkagainstPresident Alexander Lukashenko, explained Dittmer: “The use of social mediais largely prohibited in the country. And journalists’ accreditations arebeing taken away. So it has become essential to find alternativecommunication tools that can bypass government censorship there.”Majority of Tor users are not criminals
That’s exactly what inspired the creation of the Tor Project, which openedthe doors to the darknet in 2002 with its Tor Browser. “Our mission is toallow people to protect themselves from surveillance and circumventcensorship,” explained Tor Project internet activist Julius Mittenzwei:“Wherever you are on the internet, you’re followed. Tor wants to changethat.”
Mittenzwei is annoyed that most reporting on the darknet and Tor focuses onillegal sites. “There are probably very few people who realize that themajority of the roughly two million daily Tor users use the browser forcompletely legal activities,” he explained.
Reporters Without Borders’ Lisa Dittmer also wants the darknet’s reputationto change. Of course it is necessary to report on criminal sites such asDarkMarket, but that should not be the media’s only focus, she says: “Forme, criticism of the anonymization in the darknet is also an attack onfreedom of the press and freedom of expression in many areas of the world.”
Courtesy: DW