Examining the Information Pathways Leading to the Darknet: A Cross-National Analysis

The Tor network is one of the most widely used implementations of the Darknet. As the major activities on the Tor network are illegal and malicious, there are significant implications of understanding how people come to use the Tor network and why, which remains under-examined in the existing literature. This study analyzed the role of users’ online exposure to Darknet related contents in social media, their proactive online search behavior, and their national culture in shaping the number of users at the country level, after controlling for the political and economic statuses. The findings show that Tor network use can be positively predicted by exposure to darknet related online discussions, search volume, and individualistic culture. Moreover, the effect of online exposure is further moderated by the country-level political repression as well as cultural individualism. This study provides empirical details on how information environment acts as important connections between the social structure and the user adoption of the new media technology, echoing to the structuration theory. However, as the country-level analysis may lead to aggregation bias (e.g., ecological fallacy), the current findings may need further confirmation with individual-level data analysis.