Hidden network, darknet-for an ordinary person, this sounds scary. The media constantly talk about the darknet in connection with criminal activities, the sale of drugs and weapons, the work of hired killers and the organization of terrorist attacks.
It is not surprising that the idea that the darknet network is something criminal has become firmly established in the public consciousness. Like, a normal person has nothing to hide. A survey of more than 24,000 Internet users in 24 countries around the world by the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), gave a sad result: 71% of respondents supported the idea of completely closing the hidden network (pdf). Obviously, most of these people have little idea what Tor is if they think that the network can simply be "closed".
"Close" Tor means simultaneously blocking more than 7,000 burrs around the world. Governments around the world still cannot reliably block access to a single site, such as The Pirate Bay or Rutracker. For them, blocking 7000 relays-hidden entry points to the darknet-will be an impossible task.
And that's not all, because the darknet is not only Tor, but also other anonymous networks like Freenet and I2P.
But most importantly, why this idea is absurd — not all sites on the darknet are engaged in criminal activities, so there is no legitimate reason to block the entire darknet. In the end, law enforcement agencies, albeit with difficulty, but if desired, find the owners of illegal "anonymous" sites and find their hosters.
The darknet performs a very important task, helping to protect activists in countries with undemocratic regimes from the arbitrariness of the authorities, protecting journalists and informants who report on abuses of the authorities, like Edward Snowden.
Nevertheless, the idea of a complete closure of the darknet is supported by the majority of users even in democratic countries: in the United States-72%, in Germany-67%, in Sweden-61%. Sweden has the lowest rate among all countries, and the highest is in Indonesia (85%), India (82%), Mexico (80%) and China (79%).
It is not surprising that the idea that the darknet network is something criminal has become firmly established in the public consciousness. Like, a normal person has nothing to hide. A survey of more than 24,000 Internet users in 24 countries around the world by the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), gave a sad result: 71% of respondents supported the idea of completely closing the hidden network (pdf). Obviously, most of these people have little idea what Tor is if they think that the network can simply be "closed".
"Close" Tor means simultaneously blocking more than 7,000 burrs around the world. Governments around the world still cannot reliably block access to a single site, such as The Pirate Bay or Rutracker. For them, blocking 7000 relays-hidden entry points to the darknet-will be an impossible task.
And that's not all, because the darknet is not only Tor, but also other anonymous networks like Freenet and I2P.
But most importantly, why this idea is absurd — not all sites on the darknet are engaged in criminal activities, so there is no legitimate reason to block the entire darknet. In the end, law enforcement agencies, albeit with difficulty, but if desired, find the owners of illegal "anonymous" sites and find their hosters.
The darknet performs a very important task, helping to protect activists in countries with undemocratic regimes from the arbitrariness of the authorities, protecting journalists and informants who report on abuses of the authorities, like Edward Snowden.
Nevertheless, the idea of a complete closure of the darknet is supported by the majority of users even in democratic countries: in the United States-72%, in Germany-67%, in Sweden-61%. Sweden has the lowest rate among all countries, and the highest is in Indonesia (85%), India (82%), Mexico (80%) and China (79%).
