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UK
The dark net is an underworld that stretches from popular social media sites to the most secretive corners of the encrypted web. It is a world that frequently appears in newspaper headlines but one that is little understood, and rarely explored.
For his book The Dark Net Jamie Bartlett spent two years immersed in some of the internet’s most shocking and secretive sub-cultures: spending time in secretive ‘trolling’ forums, interviewing illegal pornographers, buying drugs from the notorious ‘Silk Road’, following bitcoin enthusiasts, attending live internet sex shows, and hanging out with neo-Nazis.
In his talk, Jamie will suggest they are not as they seem. They are shocking and disturbing, but often extremely innovative. He will discuss the truth of how these internet subcultures work, who is part of them, and what we can learn from them. He will also discuss the problems of meeting and writing about some of the internet’s most hated people.
Jamie is Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at the think-tank Demos. His primary research interests are: new political movements and social media research and analysis, internet cultures and security and privacy online. His book The Dark Net was shortlisted for The Political Award and longlisted for The Orwell Prize. His next book Radicals (Random House) about new radical social and political movements will be released in Spring 2017.
Please Note: This is not out usual first Monday of the month but we’ll be back to normal on February 6 with Dr Joanna Bagniewska talking about the aliens among us.