The internet has reshaped the world and how
we communicate.
In an instant we can get news from across
the globe, watch funny cat videos, or even
buy our groceries.
We all know that there are corners of the
internet that aren’t so nice: Fake news,
cyber bullying, and people stealing private
info…
But there’s an even darker part of the internet
called the dark web you can only get to with
special software and it renders you completely
anonymous.
What if you could go inside it?
The dark web evokes the image of a shadowy
back alley.
And while the Dark Web can be a place where
people can get involved in nefarious activities,
that’s not why it’s called the dark web…
It’s because your identity is “dark”
or in other words you can move about anonymously.
On the regular internet, while we may feel
that no one can see us, your activity and
identity can be easily tracked.
You can imagine that in some situations, people
would not want to be seen.
Enter... the Dark web.
If the dark web was a place, it would probably
look like a regular street, that you could
only get to by using a secret bus..
As you would pass by other people, the first
thing you would notice is that you cannot
see who they are.
Everyone would not only be masked but totally
unidentifiable.
Shop fronts could disappear and reappear instantaneously
and any money you would use to purchase things
on the dark web would have no tracking number
or links to you- Anything purchased on the
dark web is bought with cryptocurrency which
is a type of digital currency that cannot
be traced back to you and only exists online.
If you were to walk down the street you’d
see shops selling all sorts of illegal things:
Drugs, weapons, weird videos…
But there are even more dangerous shops:
Hit men for hire, human organs or body parts,
human trafficking victims, and gut wrenching
video content of animals and people being
abused, tortured or worse- even children.
This very real and dangerous underbelly of
the internet is what gives the dark web it’s
bad reputation.
But keep walking down the dark street and
you will notice something else.
Cafes with darkened windows.
If you know someone you can get in, and you
might be witness to a political revolution
underway.
Brave people hiding from an authoritarian
government eye planning on how to bring revolution
and justice to their country.
Or a cafe with marginalized people- who don’t
necessarily conform to society’s standards
and are looking for support and advice.
They might even be in a dangerous situation
depending on the country or place they live.
The US government does know about the dark
web and the things that go on there, and even
secret agents use the dark web for their own
missions.
When very terrible things do happen on the
dark web, the US government has intervened,
like when they took down “Silk Road”,
a dark web marketplace filled with drugs,
abuse, and human trafficking.
So while the dark web is a place a lot of
user identity can go undetected, there are
ways for criminals to be brought to justice.
Like a lot of things in our world the internet
and the dark web has it’s good, bad, and
very ugly sides to it.
It is a powerful tool that can greatly help
humanity.
If humanity chooses to use it in a wise way.
Be careful out there, you never know who’s
hiding behind a firewall!
Thanks for watching, and if you want to see
more great episodes of Fuzzy and Nutz then
hit that subscribe button right now before
they vanish into the mystery of the dark web.
