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Despite Its Nefarious Reputation, New Report Finds Majority of Activity On Dark Web is Totally Legal and Mundane (digitaljournal.com)
According to a study published by dark web data intelligence provider Terbium Labs, the bulk of activity appearing on the dark web is much like the content and commerce found on the clear web. In fact, researchers found that nearly 55 percent of dark web content is legal. From a report:"What we've found is that the dark web isn't quite as dark as you may have thought," said Emily Wilson, Director of Analysis at Terbium Labs. "The vast majority of dark web research to date has focused on illegal activity while overlooking the existence of legal content. We wanted to take a complete view of the dark web to determine its true nature and to offer readers of this report a holistic view of dark web activity -- both good and bad." Key findings from the report are (condensed): Anonymity does not mean criminality. Pornography is prominent, but not all of it is illegal. Drugs are a popular topic, with 45 percent of illegal content being about drugs.
Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's dangerous.
This depends on what country's laws you use to compare it. A long time ago I saw a screenshot of an alleged dark web index type thing and a lot of the site descriptions were like survival instructions in case of a government martial law type situation and bomb-making instructions. Neither of those are technically illegal in the US I think but they would be in a ton of other countries. A lot of stuff appeared to be very borderline but then again it wasn't an extensive list.
So, the dark web isn't that bad then; it just has a PR problem.
I would suggest changing it's name first. It's amazing how much more goodwiil people will grant you if you're called something like "the warm and fluffy" web instead of the dark web.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Of the hundred people in attendance in this rooms the majority is not a homicidal cannibal stalker, we found 51% of those in attendance have no plans to murder and eat someone once they leave the building.
In general, the 'dark web' is parts of the Internet that can only be accessed if you configure your system in a particular way. Whether that's running a TOR browser, or joining as a Freenet node, or something like that. The content is (generally) still HTML-based code, so standard web browser engines are used. But just having the address to the site, or even the server's IP, won't provide the information. As a result, they also aren't indexed, and can be difficult to navigate.
There's another coined phrase of 'deep web', which are non-indexed websites that you may still be able to access if you are told of their addresses. These can still be reached with a standard browser and configuration. I might make it analogous to Youtube videos that are posted by their owners but marked 'Unlisted'.