Would you know how to access the dark web?

[NoFriendsNoEnemies]

Just that.

Whenever someone appears to be convicted of child abuse, accessing violent porn etc they always seem to trot out the cliche that they came across the images by mistake or that they were downloaded to them when they were downloading something else.

And for some obscure reason they always have their band of loyal supporters who believe them.

But quite apart from the fact that it’s obviously lies, I was always under the impression that to access that kind of material you had to visit the dark web, and so accessing that kind of thing in error is in fact not possible.

But how many people would actually know how to access the dark web? And if they wouldn’t how could anyone believe that these kinds of things could be stumbled upon in error?

Would you know how to access the dark web? Not for nefarious purposes obviously, but just in general. If you wanted to access it, would you know how?

It's not all bad. The BBC news website is available through TOR, to reach Russia: www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50150981

This thread is hilarious 😆

All of our IT friends use TOR/dark web, they aren't drug dealing, people trafficking kiddie porn pervs or anything similar, they are just very security conscious as they know www isn't that safe

Feeling a bit naive here as I had never heard of ‘Tor’ before reading this thread.

Wouldn’t have the first clue about how to access the dark web, it’s always sounded rather like entering a seedy underworld that, although a bit intriguing (not the porn), I’d really rather not visit.

You use the Tor browser. I've used it out of interest.

You do not need to use the darknet to find evil things though, and the darknet isn't inherently a bad thing either.

Yes you need TOR and also the dark web doesn't have search engines as such so you have to type in specific website addresses. All of that to say that you can't 'stumble across' anything, you have to know where to find what you are looking for and in terms of more niche disturbing areas of CP it's very hard to find and you often need a pathway or invitation given you by someone specific, often by word of mouth. The dark web is crawling with law enforcement now.

All of that to say that no one in the last 10 years has stumbled across CP or anything like that. They would have had to plan it, arrange it and be advised on where exactly to look and probably need an invite to get onto the site.

@MurmuratingStarling

No. But I know several people who do know.

I have no interest in guns, bombs, porn, or illegal drugs, so I don't need to access it.

It's really not just for that. As a PP has said a few messages above this, it's often used for security.

No idea and no intention of ever finding out either.

I honestly thought ‘the dark web’ was just a phrase used to describe the dodgy stuff that you can find on the internet! TIL🤔

@AffIt

Yes. I work in IT and have done some freelance testing / dev work as an 'ethical hacker'.

If you don't know how to get to the dark web, don't start trying to find a way. It is not nice.

This sounds so interesting but also terrifying!

As others have said, Tor does have its legitimate uses. Not everyone who uses it is up to something. Unfortunately it does get misused but if it wasn't Tor, it would be something else. It's not the only one of its kind out there.

The majority of people who use it, do so to avoid being tracked, and not necessarily because they are doing anything wrong.

You can use Reddit, so named Dreddit, on the Darknet.

It just makes you more anonymous online.

There is also software called Tails. If you run Tails and use Tor alongside it, Tails acts like a virtual machine, meaning your laptop won't show that the Tor browser was even used. If you wish to buy stuff like large quantities of drugs or you're running a drug supply operation, this would likely be used.

But, you can buy drugs through Telegram and that's not ok the darknet.

Literally no idea, I don't even really understand what it is!

All of our IT friends use TOR/dark web, they aren't drug dealing, people trafficking kiddie porn pervs or anything similar, they are just very security conscious as they know www isn't that safe

the problem is they are now in a minority that attracts interest. Private, yes. Inconspicuous - no.

Yes, have used it before. I've certainly never stumbled upon CP there!
My DMs friend works with the police on these cases. He told me that lots of these people require you to submit your own cp before giving access to theirs, it's a way of proving they're not police.

Want to add, I have never use Tails. I have read about it.

No and I don't want to know but I'm sure it's pretty easy to find out if I did.

I'm sure I could work it out, but as a non criminal who doesn't live in an oppressive regime why would I need to?

Some absolutely fascinating insights on here from IT / law enforcement people.

Yeah it's very easy to access it.

But unless you have interesting links it's fairly boring - you do need to search for illegal content - if someone send lane you a random link you wouldn't open it unless you are stupid.

As pp have said you can find horrific things on the surface web.

Anyone who uses a vpn are doing a similar thing to accessing tor really in terms of being incognito.

I was introduced to it years ago by a roommate who had some but coin mining going on - what a waste of time I thought lol 😂 prob done alright for himself now I'd imagine.

It's used a lot by people who can't access the surface web due to firewalls in their home countries eg China and now Russia.

Facebook, bbc, cnn etc all have dark web links for you to use - it's not a put of illegal doom unless you want it to be obviously ☹️

OP, I've no idea what this thread is intended to establish. It seems to mainly a place for finger-wagging pearl-clutching nice ladies to gasp at the very idea! We're you hoping the paedophiles would come here and explain it for you?

Also I know of two convicted pedophiles neither of which used the dark web - both tried facilitating meets with children via what's app or similar. Unfortunately it's not limited to a seedy corner of the internet, those creeps are everywhere.

I've been on it a few times but it's fairly boring if you're someone who isn't looking for restricted content.

There are search engines such as DuckDuckGo but the whole point of the Dark Web is that it's unlisted. Unless you're given the links to certain websites, you'll never ever find them.

I haven't a clue, but via work I am aware of a 14 year old boy having access. It isn't just porn, there is violence, terrorism and weapons on there too.

I have never used the dark web, but somehow managed to see some vile child porn. Someone posted it in a FB group!

Yes.

Yes.

And no, you cannot accidentally download indecent images of children because you’d have to be on a very specific link for it. The onions (URL’s) are a total mishmash of numbers and letters, for example

p53lf57qovyuvwsc6xnrppyply3vtqm7l6pcobkmyqsiofyeznfu5uqd.onion/