Introduction
The computer science academic community has a decades‑long history of failing to cite articles that document harms to children on so‑called "anonymous communication platforms" such as the Tor Project, Freenet (now Hyphanet), and the i2P Project.
As I pointed out in a 2019 invited talk at USENIX Security, it's hard to find authors of papers at PETS, ACM CCS, IEEE Security & Privacy, and ISOC NDSS who cite these harms when writing papers on these networks, particularly Tor Project systems. The standard line is to say that the Tor Project provides protection to journalists, whistleblowers, and dissidents — and nothing else. These papers make a very serious scientific omission when they do not cite these papers below, which have documented these harms. I also stated this fact in a 2022 Report to Congress that I wrote on behalf of the National Institute of Justice.
In a paper in Nature, Nurmi et al (2024) independently confirmed this fact.
On this site, I have collected references to academic papers, government reports, and criminal cases involving child sexual exploitation on Tor, Freenet, or i2P. I have also made it easy to cite in your next paper by creating a BibTeX file with an entry for each item.
- Please read Katie McQue's excellent article: Privacy at a cost: the dark web’s main browser helps pedophile networks flourish, experts say The Tor network’s privacy architecture creates a safe haven for predators to share child sexual abuse material. Aug 25, 2025. The Guardian
- Amazing measurement stats released by C3P: CSAM distribution on Tor is not inevitable; The network’s creators have the power to act. Lloyd Richardson. August 22, 2025. The Candian Centre for Child Protection. Lloyd Richardson
Please make use of these references in your next academic publication or news article.
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