Constructive activism in the dark web: cryptomarkets and illicit drugs in the digital ‘demimonde’

Abstract

Dr Barratt is an NHMRC Postdoctoral Fellow conducting research into the social and public health implications of internet technologies for people who use illicit and emerging psychoactive drugs.

Mixing politics and crime – The prevalence and decline of political discourse on the cryptomarket

“…Maddox et al (2016) found that respondents after the fall of Silk Road experienced a sense of loss for the political vision of a different future (Maddox et al, 2016, p. 122). Empirically, we see this loss expressed in a declining prevalence of libertarian discourse indicating that after the fall of Silk Road, participants stopped discussing libertarian politics.…”

“…Law enforcement agencies have expressed concerns about 'going dark' and allowing 'dark, ungoverned space' as the unintended consequence of the availability of tools for encryption and privacy (Comey, 2014;Whitehead, 2014). The use and preoccupation with technologies for encryption and anonymity on cryptomarkets echo a cipherpunk ethos of either sabotaging or limiting state power through technology (Martin, 2014b;Maddox et al, 2016;May, 2001May, , 1994. Thus, there is also a political dimension that is oriented towards structure, state, and state power.…”

“…In extension of this, Martin (2014b, p. 19) observes that cryptomarket rules of conduct were developed and discussed by informed users in the context of broader philosophical, political and economic debates and acknowledges the diverse range of views across cryptomarkets about the political and ethical dimensions of online drug trading (Martin, 2014b, p. 15). Maddox, Barratt, Allen, and Lenton (2016) argue that the users of Silk Road engaged in constructive activism as they sought to transform their values into built environments that were designed to socially engineer a more permissive digital reality (Maddox et al, 2016, p. 111). These observations stress the cryptomarket forums as expressing political allegiances to libertarian politics consequently shaping the cryptomarket's institutions and communities.…”

Everything you always wanted to know about drug cryptomarkets* (*but were afraid to ask)

“…Another point highlighted in our special issue is that cryptomarkets are not only places to trade drugs and other commodities or services. Silk Road was described by its creator as a technology of liberation from the dictates of the state (see Maddox, Barratt, Allen, & Lenton, 2016). Munksgaard and Demant's paper (2016) tracked libertarian discourse across online forum content, finding a sharp decline in libertarian discussion following the closure of Silk Road 1, as new cryptomarkets, perhaps built with different primary motives, took its place.…”

Challenging the techno-politics of anonymity: the case of cryptomarket users

“…The Russian government has systematically tried to disrupt some anonymising systems whereas US government agencies been more circumspect and are constrained by unresolved legal questions (Çalışkan, Minárik, & Osula, 2015). These differences and disputes highlight the dual nature of the internet, both allowing counterpublics to emerge and also opportunities for state and private domination through control of the data infrastructure (Garrett, 2006;Maddox, Barratt, Allen, & Lenton, 2016). Researchers have identified new orientations and identities coming into being on the internet such as crypto-freedom, which to an extent promotes an older vision of the internet as composed of self-reliant, technically proficient actors and peer generated communities (Beer & Burrows, 2010;Coleman & Golub, 2008).…”