On 15 October, a panel discussion, Shining a light on the dark web, explores the dangers of the dark web, including how anonymous users can purchase illegal firearms and drugs on this hidden part of the internet. The challenges posed and what could be done to manage the dark web’s impact are also examined. Discussions are led by the following experts:
Giacomo Persi Paoli is research lead on the National Security and Resilience research portfolio at RAND Europe. He is also the Head of RAND Europe's Centre for Futures and Foresight Studies. Giacomo introduces cryptomarkets, the black markets on the dark web, and reveals the size and scope of the dark web and what is available for trade, with a focus on illegal firearms.
He said: “The illegal movement of firearms worldwide involves a complex mix of interrelated issues and despite governmental efforts to regulate firearms, there are many avenues for criminals to bypass controls and move weapons across international borders. One possible method for trafficking firearms is via the dark web, which hosts many different online black markets that aid the sale of firearms, weapons, explosives and banned digital materials.
“Our research explored the role played by the dark web in the worldwide illegal arms trade and looked at issues such as 3D printing of home-made guns, the value of the trade in weapons and firearms through cryptomarkets and the possible implications for law enforcement agencies.”
Stijn Hoorens is the Head of RAND Europe's Brussels Office and an Associate Director of RAND Europe. Most of his work has revolved around issues related to illicit markets, security, demographic issues, employment, and skills. He examines how the dark web has facilitated the trade in illicit drugs and how the findings converge and differ between firearms and drugs.
Steve Welsh is a Senior Manager at the National Crime Agency in the UK and heads up the Dark Web Intelligence Collection and Exploitation department. He gives an insight into the evolving threat of dark web markets and sharing some of the UK’s success in combatting it with international partners.
Judith Aldridge is Professor of Criminology in the School of Law at the University of Manchester. Her recent research has focussed on how drug markets have been facilitated by technological developments supporting anonymous internet activities on the dark web. She is the author of over 80 publications in the drugs field; 19 of these on ‘darknet’ drug markets. Judith explores some of the unexpected benefits of the dark web, such as how it may reduce some of the harms generally associated with global drug prohibition.
With Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and other social media hitting the headlines, social media is also big issue facing us in the digital age. On 18th October, an expert panel consider the effects of social media on our democracy and society during the discussion, Antisocial media: what is social media doing to our society? The panel includes Dr Nóra Ni Loideain, Director of the Information Law and Policy Centre at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies; John Thompson, Professor of Sociology, Director of Polity Press and Fellow of Jesus College; and Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy.
Another growing worry is the dramatic rise in digitally-based crimes such as image-based abuse. On 27th October, an interactive roundtable, Tackling image-based abuse and revenge porn, hosted by the Anglia Research Centre in Media and Culture, addresses these concerns.
This event brings together a range of experts from education, cultural studies, law, criminology, and film and media studies to discuss and debate how best to tackle this complex topic. Areas covered include the responsibility of social media platforms to tackle the issue, ways to protect yourself in a 24/7 digital media environment, and the relationship between online and offline forms of violence.
The Chair for the event is Dr Tanya Horeck, Anglia Ruskin University. Speakers include:
Jessica Ringrose, Professor of Sociology of Gender and Education, University College London, examines how women and girls use images of messages to document sexual violence and fight back;
Dr Kelly Johnson, Durham University, member of the Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse, explores dimensions of the victim experience and draws from her research on responses to violence against women and girls;
Folami Prehaye, activist and founder of the website VOIC (Victims of Internet Crime), questions why society feels it necessary to attach blame, stigma and additional stress to those who decide to speak out against those who have committed a crime;
Julia Chan, doctoral candidate in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, explores some of the connections between image-based sexual abuse, surveillance culture, and capitalism.
On the same day (27 Oct), Philosopher Henrik Schoeneberg explores how Artificial Intelligence might “be the best or worst thing to ever happen to humanity”, as put by physicist Stephen Hawking. In A bleak or bright future with artificial intelligence? he looks into the likelihood of how AI can assist us in being the creators of our own destiny. The positive potentials are endless but so are the dangers. Mr Schoeneberg reflects on what role each individual can play in making our future a brighter one.
Other related events include:
From simple to high-tech: technologies that improve lives, (16 Oct). An exploration of how innovations in food-related technologies, from clean-burning stoves to robotic harvesters, have the potential to improve lives across the globe and contribute to sustainability and food security.
The future of work, (20 Oct). Will the future of work be one in which jobs become ever more precarious and robots take over or can we regulate to make the gig economy and artificial intelligence work in our favour? With James Bloodworth, author of Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain; Dr Alex Wood, a sociologist of work and employment at the University of Oxford; Dr Hatice Gunes, associate professor in the University of Cambridge's Computer Laboratory; and Laetitia Vitaud, HR specialist and writer on the future of work.
The automated culture lab, (20 Oct). Interactive workshop exploring the recent developments in machine learning that allow researchers to experiment with computer-generated literature, art and music. What does this incursion of machines onto the terrain of human creativity tells us about contemporary culture and society?
Why net: can new media help democratic transformations? (22 Oct). A talk by journalist and communications professional, Mariia Terentieva, who worked for the United Nations Development Programme. She describes something Europe hasn’t witnessed before – an emerging digital civil society – and discusses how the case study of Ukraine shows that we have previously underestimated the potential of the internet for democracy.
Bookings open on Monday 24th September and can be made by telephone 01223 766766 or online: www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk
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