ProPublica Launches the Dark Web’s First Major News Site

ProPublica became the first recognized major media outlet to launch a version of its site that runs as a “hidden service” on the Tor network this week.  Tor network is the anonymity system that powers thousands of untraceable websites. Websites running on this network are also considered as the darknet or dark web.

The dark web is a place where the digital community conceals everything that is considered prohibited in the legitimate web. This is where pornography, drugs, illicit commerce lurk. It is here that Tor users share photos over an even private version of FaceBook, send instant messages with friends over anonymous chat service like Ricochet. It is home to both scoundrels as well as political activists, and can be accessed only with the help of specially designed anonymizing software.

The chances of locating these underground networks are practically nil, unless someone who already knows about it points you towards that direction.

If it’s hidden from search engines’ prying eye, why then would anyone, much more a distinguish organization, even access it? As the dark web is synonymous to secrecy, it is also a haven for free speech.According to a report, as the dark web start to look more like “privacy-preserving mirror of the web,” it has gained more users. This week, it has earned a new respectable member, ProPublica, a non-profit news organization that delivers investigative journalism in the public interest.

The source also divulged that founders of the site was inspired to move as it was preparing a story on China’s online censorship, one that requires information that are least likely to be accessed on a conventional web browser. The report adds that “with the Tor site, ProPublica believes it can ensure visitors unmonitored access to their journalism — assuming its visitors can find it.” It is not certain, however, readers will be able to actually locate the Tor version of the site.

Need to check out the site? ProPublika’s legit URL is here: https://www.propublica.org/search/search.php?qss=dark+net&x=0&y=0&csrf_token=1fe90a638b09c95bf0e0f089425e3558efd1d6f3c84029f6e9615d9404ffcf05