The third essay I chose to work with for the final paper for this class is about the sinister and mysterious Darkweb. The article is titled, “The Darknet: Is the Government Destroying ‘the Wild West of the Internet?'” Surprisingly enough, many people have not heard of such a thing, or would even expect it to have existed. The essay delves into the information regarding the founding of the darkweb and how it divvied away from its original purpose. How far away it wandered (though it’s not the main topic of this post) is still questionable.
This essay was one of the 50 suggested in a post on the Electric Typewriter and I was given the link through an email sent to my class. Even though I didn’t just stumble across the article and it was easier to find does not mean it holds any less significance. It is a very informative article and I believe it brings a new perspective to the table that has not been seen before.
The essay details the history of the making of the darknet, as mentioned before, and it explains in detail what such a browser is used for. The browser used is called Tor and it was originally meant for the use of government officials and people of power so that their work would be more secure rather than if they just used Google, Yahoo, or Bing. Because of certain regulations, this browser, Tor couldn’t be just for the government to use so it was also open to the public. The public then took things into their own hands and started abusing the power that a privatized browser like Tor held. People started using it to trade and sell drugs. Sites can be found using this browser include sites that broadcast murder, sex, and other what the general public would consider to be heinous things. There is a site dedicated to people filming themselves committing suicide. Tor was not made for this purpose but this is what it has become.
Despite the questionable uses the darknet has, the article detailing its existence is very useful and reliable. David Kushner, the author of the article, is a man who has been in the journalism business for a long time. He has written multiple books and has worked for New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Wired, and much more. He has also taught Journalism at Princeton University (an ivy league school). Because of this and more, I feel comfortable reading his reports, essays, and articles.
“About.” David Kushner, www.davidkushner.com/.
