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The internet reacts to Ross Ulbricht’s pardon: memes, praise, and outrage

‘Taking your prison plant home is such a vibe.’

Lindsey Weedston

Social media reactions to the pardon of Ross William Ulbricht are revealing a stark divide between the political right and left as some condemn and others meme. Ulbricht is the creator of the onetime darknet marketplace known as Silk Road, which allowed users to anonymously buy and sell anything from artwork to illegal narcotics.

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President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Ulbricht on Tuesday after promising to commute his sentence in a campaign speech to the Libertarian National Convention in 2024.

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Who is Ross William Ulbricht?

Ulbricht grew up in Austin, Texas, where he earned a full academic scholarship to the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating in 2006 with a bachelor’s in physics. He earned his master’s in materials science and engineering from Pennsylvania State University, where he became interested in libertarianism as a fan of Ron Paul.

He pivoted from science to business and after failing to get a video game company going, launched an online used book store called Good Wagon Books with a friend, but struggled to make it work. By 2009, he found himself scrambling to find other work in order to survive, and felt drained and unsatisfied. That was when he started forming a plan for a new project.

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What is the Silk Road?

Going by the name Dread Pirate Roberts, Ulbricht created Silk Road in 2011, calling it “a website where people could buy anything anonymously, with no trail whatsoever that could lead back to them,” according to his diary entries. It was, effectively, an online black market.

The site relied on the Tor network, which allows users to communicate and do business anonymously through random internet pathways generated by over 7,000 volunteer-operated relays. With all this data encrypted and anonymized, Silk Road buyers and sellers would be protected from scrutiny if they chose to deal in illegal products.

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The site existed between Feb. 2011 and Oct. 2013, when the FBI shut it down.

What does the Silk Road have to do with Bitcoin?

As part of its efforts to keep user data hidden, Silk Road dealt only in Bitcoin—the world’s first decentralized cryptocurrency. Bitcoin owners can convert any currency to fill their crypto wallets without attaching their legal names to their accounts. This attracts both fans of digital privacy for personal reasons and those who want to operate outside of the law.

According to the U.S. legal complaint on Ulbricht, Silk Road dealt in sales amounting to 9,519,664 Bitcoins between the site’s launch and July 2013.

Many Bitcoin fans are thrilled at the news of Ulbricht’s release, believing the cryptocurrency and Silk Road to be symbols of “radical freedom.”

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Why did Ross William Ulbricht need a pardon?

All this activity caught the attention of the FBI, which infiltrated Silk Road’s admin team and tracked Ulbricht down, arresting him in a San Francisco library where he had logged in to Silk Road on his laptop under his founding account.

Federal courts charged him with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, narcotics conspiracy, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to commit computer hacking. Prosecutors even alleged that involved himself in a $730,000 murder-for-hire scheme.

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They dropped the murder charge but convicted Ulbricht on all other counts. He got two life sentences plus 40 years in a sentencing hearing on May 29, 2015.

Ulbricht pardon memes and reactions

Libertarians, Bitcoin fans, and digital privacy enthusiasts celebrated Ulbricht’s pardon and release on Tuesday, in contrast to many liberals and other Trump opposition. The party focused on a blurry photo of the Silk Road founder walking out of prison with a small plant and a bag of his other belongings slung over his shoulder.

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The photo has become a new meme for libertarians, who are already creating fan art. Ulbricht’s supporters see it as a symbol of freedom from government overreach, with some arguing that prosecutors unfairly targeted and punished him with double life sentences in spite of no prior criminal record.

@pepe/X
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“Silk Road sold apparel, art, books, collectibles, computer equipment, electronics, herbs, and yeah—drugs. But according to friends who used it, Silk Road was arguably the safest way drugs were ever sold: no street violence, no shady deals, and zero fentanyl,” claims X user and Bitcoin fan @bensig. “Everything was tested and peer-reviewed, like an Amazon for substances.”

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“For this, the government gave him two life sentences without parole for nonviolent charges, including money laundering—just for using Bitcoin. They relied on questionable evidence and made him an example.”

Others, however, accused Ulbricht of facilitating much more serious crimes with Silk Road, including human trafficking and hitmen.

@hissgoescobra/X
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“Trump just issued the most ludicrous pardon in American history,” said @hissgoescobra. “He released Ross Ulbricht, the godfather of the Dark Web, where trafficked children, machine guns, illegal drugs, and hitmen are sold daily.”

@marlene4719/X

According to the International Business Times, Silk Road’s terms of service forbade selling items that could “harm or defraud,” including assassinations and “weapons of mass destruction.” A report by The Guardian included all weapons and child sexual abuse materials, though the do not mention human trafficking. It’s unclear if these terms were ever broken, and if so, whether Ulbricht knew about or acted upon such violations.

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