A review of the available content on Tor hidden services: The case against further development

• Content and users’ behaviors on Tor hidden services have never been studied before.
• Content and behaviors of unethical nature on the Tor hidden services prevail.
• The article argues there is few utility of hidden services not covered by Tor.
• The article advocates a change of norms via developing available services.
• Alternatively, Tor should stop the development of the hidden services functionality.

Deindividuation theory informs us that anonymity is likely to beget unethical or violent behavior. Since 2002, Tor has implemented hidden services that allow users to host platforms anonymously and these have behaved accordingly with deindividuation theory: the services are used mostly for unethical content. This article realizes the first systematic analysis of users behavior on Tor hidden services. After classifying 1171 services into 23 categories, and carrying out a content analysis of 2165 posts, the article concludes that unethical content is quantitatively and qualitatively more preponderant than ethical content. The advantages of anonymity to store and access this ethical content do not balance the negative impacts caused by the unethical content. Freedom of expression and the lack of censorship, if theoretically praiseworthy, are overshadowed by what users have done with it: using Tor hidden services in unethical ways. Unethical content is undesirable by its very nature of affecting people negatively, which should lead us to reconsider the development of the Tor hidden services. For users simply wishing to stay anonymous and to act ethically, the use of Tor and of web services located in countries with a morally balanced legal system are sufficient. The support for the further development of Tor hidden services should hence stop, which would not hinder the functioning of Tor as an anonymity provider to those needing it.