The hidden face of the Dark Web: a volumetric analysis of CSAM presence on Freenet

Abstract

Freenet, as a constituent part of the so-called Deep Web, is an ecosystem of anonymous services that has been scarcely approached from a rigorous academic perspective. Despite the existence of preliminary exploratory studies, the majority of these are confined to the telematic description of the network or to the general categorisation of its services. Conversely, there is a paucity of evidence specifically aimed at detecting and analysing content related to child sexual abuse material (hereinafter referred to as CSAM).

In this context, the present study aims to carry out a systematic and quantitative review of the content accessible on Freenet, in order to identify hidden services linked to the distribution of child sexual abuse material. To this end, automated procedures were developed and implemented for the purpose of extracting, filtering and classifying links from the main indexing services available on the network. The aim is to provide practical recommendations for transposing them into preventive plans and procedures.

The analysis revealed 367 websites related to CSAM, all of which were located through a mere seven active indexers within the Dark Web. These findings underscore the endurance of this category of content in anonymous environments and underscore the necessity to persist in the development of technological tools and efficacious legal frameworks for its detection and prosecution.