The dark net is the underworld of the internet: a secret, encrypted cyber-realm where everyone is anonymous and users have complete freedom. A product of the libertarian “cypherpunks” in the early 1990s, who believed an encrypted internet would result in a more free and open society, the dark net has since attracted child sexual abuse networks and forums dedicated to self-harm, as well as political fantasists of every persuasion. Bartlett asks: “Do the features of anonymity and connectivity free the darker sides of our nature?” To answer this he makes contact with the people behind the avatars. He meets trolls and neo-Nazi bloggers (one tells him: “I ache to have a voice”), a downloader of child abuse images, and Bitcoin activist Amir Taaki (“Bitcoins are a political project”); he buys cannabis from Silk Road and is invited to watch a cam-model perform for her online fans from her bedroom. The dark net is a mirror held up to society, and we don’t always like what we see. For this reason Bartlett doesn’t want more censorship and concludes: “The dark net fosters breathtaking creativity.” An intelligent and revealing introduction to the denizens of the web’s underworld. PD Smith
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