The vocabulary used in coverage can blur distinctions between network technology, online communities, marketplace functions, and evidence. This glossary defines terms as analytical language rather than as instructions. Its organizing perspective is the social context and language surrounding the case.
Core network terms
**Dark web:** services intentionally not indexed or ordinarily reached through standard web navigation. **Tor:** a network designed to route traffic through relays for privacy. **Onion service:** a service reachable through Tor using an onion address. These terms are related but not interchangeable.
Marketplace and trust terms
**Marketplace:** a platform that brings together listings and participants. **Escrow:** a third-party holding arrangement claimed to condition release of funds; the label alone does not prove that such a mechanism worked. **Reputation system:** a mechanism for displaying feedback, which may be manipulated or fabricated.
Evidence vocabulary
**Primary source:** a record close to the event or observation being studied. **Corroboration:** independent support for a claim. **Attribution:** identifying who made a claim, not necessarily proving it true. **Unverified:** a claim for which adequate supporting evidence has not been established.
Editorial perspective
Context lens: examine the language used by sources and the assumptions embedded in labels. This is a reading framework, not an additional factual claim about the marketplace.
A practical reading test
When a report uses “dark web” and “Tor” interchangeably, rewrite the note using the narrower term supported by the described technical fact.
Editorial lens: Northroom
Context lens: examine the language used by sources and the assumptions embedded in labels. Definitions are deliberately narrow: each term describes one concept and should not be used as a substitute for a neighboring concept.