The internet has three layers:
- Surface web - Indexed by Google. About 5% of the internet. What most people use daily.
- Deep web - Not indexed by search engines. Includes email inboxes, bank accounts, private databases. About 90% of the internet.
- Dark web - Accessible only through Tor or similar networks. About 5% of the internet. Includes .onion sites.
The dark web exists because privacy is a fundamental right. Journalists use it to communicate with sources. Activists in authoritarian regimes use it to organize. Whistleblowers use it to expose corruption safely.