Why Is It Hard To Police The Dark Web?

When people describe the dark web as “the dark web”, there are obvious connotations of crime. It might be easy to envision an underground criminal marketplace, and the fact that actual online black markets such as The Silk Road are often the first associations that individuals have with the Dark Web certainly doesn’t help. However, this begs the obvious question — if there is so much “darkness” on the dark web, why doesn’t it come to the light?

There are some obvious reasons that many might put forward, but it’s a valid question. In a world where one of the largest tech companies in the world is selling facial recognition to technology to law enforcement, and there are actual Ted Talks about how law enforcement is becoming more militarized — one has to wonder about the dark web. Why is law enforcement not constantly exploring and mining a part of the Internet where there might be criminals either offering or selling their services? If they are policing it, why don’t we hear more about it? Also, if, for various reasons — the dark web is harder to police, why is that the case?

Threats Not So Immediate

When we think about the role that law enforcement plays in society — we think about the fact that there are criminals out there who are actively looking to harm others. Our mind might immediately take us to the…