Poll

I haven't visited the Deep Web and not sure what technology or software allows one to access it, but recently became interested in the subject as per this discussion thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

As the mainstream media has repeatedly reported, there is obviously some really dark and sickening stuff occurring on the Deep/Dark Web - including crimes against children and even the hiring of assassins online to kill other citizens.

However, according to a fascinating documentary I watched over the weekend called Deep Web, it appears this vast and hidden area of the internet is not just for criminals like mainstream media is implying. Rather, it's also commonly accessed by journalists, scientists, researchers, whistleblowers, social activists and radical thinkers.

Would love to hear others thoughts on whether operating on a legal and more secure part of the internet could in the long run allow citizens to regain privacy...
The reason for my interest in this subject is I'm concerned that widescale internet usage regularly allows for corrupt and elitist governments to spy on honest and ethical citizens and circumvent their efforts to create social justice e.g. A whistleblower gathers evidence on corruption in an administration and before he/she can expose it to the media the evidence they are gathering online is noticed by the powers-that-be...

From a philosophical or humanitarian perspective, it seems like the Deep Web could potentially have a lot of positive benefits...Kind of like the last line of defence if governments turn fascist or otherwise totalitarian. For example, the documentary mentioned how the Deep Web is being used in nations like China and Iran where the regular internet is highly censored by those governments and most (innocent) citizens are spied on.

But again, the Deep Web definitely seems like a place where networks of criminals can work undetected and orchestrate crimes such as human trafficking more effectively.

And then there's activity inbetween those two extremes where Deep Web users seem to be doing things that are illegal but perhaps not unethical or immoral (depending on your perspective). An example of this middle ground, according to the documentary I watched, is where drug addicts are getting drugs online from dealers on the Deep Web. A journalist was interviewed saying this is a far safer way to get drugs for addicts as the dealers have ratings and customer feedback/reviews on their profile page. And so the Deep Web is undermining The War on Drugs which depending on your POV is either a humanitarian program or a money grabbing, pursuit of power project that has nothing to do with reducing drug addiction in society...

So in instances where governments have laws which are immoral, unethical or just plain ridiculous, perhaps the Deep Web is one way citizens might be able to operate in a fairer world?

But possibly all this is a naïve viewpoint as it seems unlikely most people could have technologies that would make them 100% invisible from the likes of the CIA/NSA/FBI/MI5/Inerpol etc.

Would be good to hear from others who have either used the Deep Web or know more about it.

Ademilson wrote: "I believe that nothing is automatically good or bad from the moment it is created. As it is with almost everything, what makes the Deep Web dangerous is not the Deep Web itself, but the intent of o..."

Everything you say makes total sense.
I agree that most inventions are usually not good or bad and rather it is how those technologies are used that decides things. Technologies or inventions are of themselves mostly neutral until humans operate them, I think.
My (limited) understanding is the Deep Web is legal content and the Dark Web is illegal content.
So I guess I'm primarily focused primarily on the (legal) Deep Web and whether it can eventually become some kind of "Little Brother" technology the masses use to fight back against all the advanced technology of Big Brother... :)

No, and it doesn't have any appeal for me either!

Nope. But I know a man who has. :)

C. wrote: "No, and it doesn't have any appeal for me either!"

I felt the same, especially as the news media kept telling me only criminals use the Deep Web...But then I heard 96% of the internet is the Deep Web that's invisible to most users and that accessing the Deep Web is perfectly legal. So the criminal side is just one side to it, by the sounds of it.

So now I'm wondering if there may be some useful or even life-changing info in that 96%...

But I don't pretend to understand the Deep Web and the concept is hard to get my head around it.

Harry wrote: "Nope. But I know a man who has. :)"

Is he still alive?

Spark

This is a great fictional book that involves the Deep Web.

James Morcan wrote: "Harry wrote: "Nope. But I know a man who has. :)"

Is he still alive?"

Ha! Yeah. Last I heard anyway...

Harry wrote: "Ha! Yeah. Last I heard anyway......"

Does his first name rhyme with Larry and does he use a wolf as his avatar??

James Morcan wrote: "Harry wrote: "Ha! Yeah. Last I heard anyway......"

Does his first name rhyme with Larry and does he use a wolf as his avatar??"

Nah, 'fraid not. I'm useless with computers!

No I have not, I would not even know how to do it.
(I am electronically challenged) ;)

Hi All! Someone once talked about it to me but how do we access Deep Web?...Is it legal to visit that weird ethaereal places?

Is that Ask Jeeves?

One that I am aware of is the Onion software.

C. wrote: "No, and it doesn't have any appeal for me either!"

Why doesn't it have an appeal?

James Morcan wrote: "Harry wrote: "Nope. But I know a man who has. :)"

Is he still alive?"

Ah hahaha!!!

I haven't had any desire to access it, but even if I did, I would be hesitant due to the potential malware exposure. I have enough trouble keeping my computer clean on the regular web. It's like going to the seedy side of town, you can find stuff that isn't sold in stores but you might get beat up.

Deep Web for Journalists - Comms, Counter-Surveillance, Search looks along the lines of what I'm wondering might happen in future i.e. The Deep Web could become a way for whistleblowers to protect themselves.

I've gone there. I never searched for porn, so of course, didn't find it. I didn't have any reason to go there, but for seeing what it is. It's good to know it's there in case I might need it for future research. For example, someone was telling me the story of research he'd been doing on the Irish Protestant / Catholic conflicts, years ago. The building of one of the main newspapers whose articles he wanted research was blown up just before he started on it. In such a case, maybe you could still find the information on the Dark Web.

James Morcan wrote: "I haven't visited the Deep Web and not sure what technology or software allows one to access it, but recently became interested in the subject as per this discussion thread: https://www.goodreads.c..."

In my work for DSO i followed "various" groups that use the "Dark Web". Actually we didn't call it that.

John wrote: "In my work for DSO i followed "various" groups that use the "Dark Web". Actually we didn't call it that.
..."

So in your expert opinion is there any positive potential in the Deep Web? For example, I heard WikiLeaks used to operate entirely on the Deep Web...And Edward Snowden too, I think...

Or is the Deep Web purely for evil critters??
I keep hearing one horror story after another, actually.

Not just for "evil critters" as you aptly put it James, although some of the supposed "good guys and agencies" that use it are worse than the "evil critters"!
The DSO had a "wireless, telegraphy, ciber investigation unit."
I would put a request in for a "specific purpose search" and on many times would actually sit with the operator.
Personally my IT skills are almost non existent so i relied on the "unit" to go where i needed to be.
So called "good guys and good agencies" do use it for various "black situations" that is for certain.

John wrote: "So called "good guys and good agencies" do use it for various "black situations" that is for certain. ..."

So some of the criminals in the Dark Web are actually those within intel agents or other supposed good guys?

OH YES!!!!!

Sometimes they do not want their own people knowing too easily what is going on! Until its happened.

Brilliant interview with Laurence De Mello regarding the "suicide" of Dr David Kelly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAa_D...

John wrote: "OH YES!!!!!

Sometimes they do not want their own people knowing too easily what is going on! Until its happened."

Damn, reading between the lines it sounds like False Flag Ops are even happening in the Deep Web!
Where does the propaganda end???????????????

Must of what is public about Deep Web or Dark web is FUD.
It is like saying something is illegal because it is not in the yellow pages

Arbano wrote: "Must of what is public about Deep Web or Dark web is FUD.
It is like saying something is illegal because it is not in the yellow pages"

interesting.

I have been using Dark Web for years now. I am definitely as far from a criminal as you can get. I just like my privacy, and I don't care a lick for ads. (Using the Dark Web now to access Goodreads, actually.)

And, there is really nothing you can't find on the Dark Web that you can't find in the real world. I think most of the appeal for people is the fact that you can't be traced -- and that alone is why the government likes to call us criminals.

The last thing I got off the Dark Web was a bunch of old ebooks on mystical occult stuff that was published in the early 1800s.

Granted, you can find a lot of things there, if you know where to look. I always recommend to new people that if you want to go browse the Dark Web go here:
https://www.backed.io/posts/post/88

Those directions are so easy that just about anyone can follow them.

Secondly, stay away from buying anything that is illegal. They often are sold by agents out to catch people. I know, I know. It's the first thing people think about when they start accessing it. Tags to stay away from are Cheese Pizza and CP. They are... well... child porn and worse. Others may be labelled with standard terms that you'd recognise.

And, third, have fun! It's not dark and dangerous like you might think. At least not if you're not the sick, perverted sort.

Grace wrote: "I have been using Dark Web for years now. I am definitely as far from a criminal as you can get. I just like my privacy, and I don't care a lick for ads. (Using the Dark Web now to access Goodreads..."

Thank you Grace.

In the link you provided it stated the following: "Yet the dark web also plays an important role for political dissidents and the privacy conscious. Even Facebook recently set up a way to access their site via Tor, making Facebook one of the newest additions to the dark web."

So this seems to verify the positive aspects of the Dark Web I've been wondering about.

Welcome, guys. I hope more people use it with an open mind. :D