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Comment by _Understated_ | Hacker News Reader

Straight away in the article they spell it out and make the link between Tor and the dark web:

> The Tor browser is privacy-focused software used to access the dark web

Yes it is. But that's the worst thing it's used for.

It's like saying 12-gauge shotguns are used for bank robberies...

Ok, I'm stretching the point but it's needlessly putting the association of privacy focused browsing using Tor with the nasty shit that some people do with it.

Edit: I realise my understanding of The Dark Web was incorrect so this argument is invalidated now but I'll leave it up.

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But you're using 'dark web' as if it necessarily implies "the worst thing[s]" and "the nasty shit" on Tor. The term 'dark web' doesn't refer to anything nefarious in itself — it simply means content accessible only via Tor (or some other software or network).

Sure, many so-called Hidden Services offer illegal and immoral content, but the dark web is enormous. There are many more such sites offering ebooks and other (legal) media, anonymous blogging/forums/social media, whistleblowing services, censorship-resilient news platforms (BBC, NYT, The Intercept, ProPublica), cryptocurrency trading, and so on.

Hell, even the CIA has a 'dark web' presence on Tor [1].

[1]: http://ciadotgov4sjwlzihbbgxnqg3xiyrg7so2r2o3lt5wz5ypk4sxyjs...

It's also the case that onion services make up less than 3% of Tor traffic -- the perception that they are a very common thing people use on Tor is massively distorted by thinly-veiled smears by plenty of media outlets. The most-used onion service on Tor is (by a landslide) Facebook.

I always though that "dark web" is not about the kind of things you can find there, but the fact that is not "in the open internet". Wikipedia seems to think the same way [1]:

"The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on darknets, overlay networks that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access."

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_web

Umm... the Tor network is the dark web. Like OP said, you're conflating these two topics.

> Yes it is. But that's the worst thing it's used for.

The "dark" in dark web doesn't mean "bad", it's darkness to prying eyes. If you buy drugs on the dark web, it's the dark web. If you read literature on the dark web that your government doesn't want you to read, it's the dark web as well. The negative connotations you're associating with it are what this step by the BBC will help reduce: pointing out that the criminal use isn't the primary use of the dark web. Privacy is.

My bad. I always assumed it meant bad stuff.

On that note, I bet if you asked non-techs what they think "dark web" means they'd think nasty stuff.

Sure, the public's exposure to the term so far has pretty much only been in connection to nasty stuff.

That will change when more normal stuff is available on the dark web and the privacy aspect gets more pronounced (privacy being a major topic these days). And "we're providing access to the free internet to everyone living in countries with authoritarian regimes that try to restrict information and oppress their citizens" is a powerful narrative. They'll be less likely to consider it evil if it's compared to the BBC German Service during WW2, broadcasting to Germany in German, unrestricted by the Nazi government.

One of my teenage daughter's friends saw a Tor icon on my laptop and asked if I was looking for drugs, child porn or wanted someone murdering.

I would say to most people, if they have heard of the "dark web" then they think it exists exclusively for "the nasty shit".

>It's like saying 12-gauge shotguns are used for bank robberies...

I think I've seen the exact BBC article ;)

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