Who created the dark web?

If you ask someone about who created the dark web, they most probably give you the wrong answer. If you ask the same question, there will be more different answers, but you will never get the right answer.

Some say it was created by hackers, others point to the Silk Road founders, and others say it was created by criminals to benefit them.

But which is right?

The truth is different, and the history is far older, and to be honest, the government created or funded the creation of the dark web.

We will describe how the dark web is created, who created it, and why they created it.

The Origin Mid 1990s:

In mid 1990, the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) developed a new technology called onion routing. It was first created by scientists Paul Syverson, David Goldschlag, and Michael Reed.

The initial goal for creating the technology is to protect U.S. intelligence communications.

Encrypting a message alone will not be secure. Onion routing works by wrapping each message in multiple layers of encryption and routing it through a chain of relay servers.

Each relay peels off one layer like an onion and knows only the previous and next server, not the full path of the travel.

So, the origin and the destination stay hidden.

U.S. Navy patented onion routing in 1998. At this stage, it was just a government project and not called the dark web yet.

2000:

The dark web began in 2000 with the release of Freenet. It is a thesis project of University of Edinburgh student Ian Clarke, who created a  “Distributed Decentralized Information Storage and Retrieval System.”

The motivation behind his creation was to end surveillance and censorship, so that people could publish and share information without fear of being found out.

Freenet was a decentralized, peer-to-peer network in which files were split, encrypted, and distributed across users’ machines. No single person, company, or government controlled it, and no single server could be seized to take it down.

This attracted whistleblowers and those who believe privacy is a right.

2002-2008:

In 2002, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s onion routing work was released to the public as an open-source project. It was called The Onion Router, shortened to Tor.

In 2006, a nonprofit called The Tor Project was established to maintain and develop it, funded by a mix of government grants, academic institutions, and individual donations.

The Tor browser was released in 2008 to enable ordinary people to access it. This marks the birth of the Tor Browser that you are using now.

How did it get the name ‘dark web’?

The term “dark web” was coined by journalists, as it stuck in everyone’s mind. Before that, people used phrases like “hidden services” or “The Tor network” .

As the name “dark web” immediately attracts most people, it is used.

First, the technology was born, and then the name was given after many years.

The dark web was not popular until the very first marketplace emerged, “The Silk Road”. Silk Road was a tor hidden marketplace where users could buy illegal drugs with Bitcoin. Ross Ulbricht is the founder of Silk Road. He operated in the name of Dread Pirate Roberts.

In 2013, the FBI arrested him and sentenced him to life in prison. He was then pardoned by President Trump in Jan 2025.

Silk Road and its founder are not the creators of the dark web. But right after the marketplace became popular, the dark web became popular for illegal trade activities.

Why did the Silk Road choose Bitcoin as its payment method?

Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, and the first block was mined in 2009.

The founder chose Bitcoin as its payment because of its anonymity, decentralization, user control, and self-custody wallet.

No one can find out who the sender is or who the receiver is.

No need for names, addresses, or country or region for a transaction. It only requires a unique Bitcoin address to make a transfer, and the transfer will be completed in 1 single click.

The fee is calculated as sat and based on how many sat a transfer has, the transaction will be confirmed accordingly.

The minimum confirmation time is 10 minutes, and you can send billions for a small fee in a few minutes without any banks intervening.

As it provided anonymity, the founder used it as a payment method to hide his identity.

Fact: Bitcoin gained some momentum due to its use on the dark web. We won’t say it is popular now only because of the dark web. But gained a little momentum.

So who actually created the dark web?

If you are expecting one answer, there isn’t one. As we discussed, it is a collaboration among multiple organizers with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

Why would the U.S. government release its own anonymity tool to the world?

The TOR tool emerged as a platform for journalists and people under constant surveillance. It is a modern tool for freedom of speech.

But the whole narrative is different now from the origin.

The primary use was to create a secure network for communication. Now it serves for different purposes too.

Creating criminal activity was not on the agenda. It was adopted by the criminals to commit crimes easily, as it provides anonymity.

Conclusion:

So, we have a clear picture of who, why, and when the dark web was created.

Now, the dark web hosts over a million websites. Some of them are active, and some of them are inactive.

If you have a link to the .onion website, you can access it and check how the dark web works.

FAQ:

Is it true that the dark web was created for illegal activities? – No, the TOR project was a combined creation of the US Naval Research Laboratory along with other organizations. IT is created to provide anonymous browsing and communications.

When was the dark web created? – The initial version was seeded in 1990 and emerged as the modern TOR browser in 2008.

How to download the TOR browser? – You can download the TOR browser on www.torproject.org, available for MAC, Android, Linux, and Windows.

Is it illegal to access the contents of the dark web? – No, it is not illegal to access the content of the dark web. It is illegal to commit crimes by purchasing illegal or banned goods.

Does the TOR browser provide privacy? – Yes, using the TOR browser will protect you from trackers. It provides an anonymous browsing experience.