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The Dark Web has its first major news publication

ProPublica wants to prove the Tor network isn't just for nefarious deeds.

The Dark Web has a nasty reputation (and deservedly so) but perhaps investigative news publication ProPublica being the first major media organization on the anonymized version of the internet can change that a bit. The reasoning? "We don't want anyone to know that you came to us or what you read," ProPublica's web developer Mike Tigas told Wired. The idea is that the publication wants to ensure that people reading its Pulitzer-winning work are safe in places like China where censorship reigns supreme. Or that anonymous sources or leakers can read the articles they provided information for without fear of being caught.

As Wired notes, there are already news sites on the Tor service, and you can even access a version of ProPublica through the Tor browser. Hell, Facebook even set up shop on the other internet. But a publication with the ProPublica's reputation is kind of a benchmark that other organizations can look to to prove that the service isn't merely a wretched hive of scum and villiany.