Conspiracy Resource and URL Datasets

This repository provides two datasets used in the USENIX Security 2025 paper:

The Conspiracy Money Machine: Uncovering Telegram's Conspiracy Channels and their Profit Model

If you use this dataset, or the findings from the paper, please cite:

@inproceedings{imperati2025conspiracy,
  title={The Conspiracy Money Machine: Uncovering Telegram's Conspiracy Channels and their Profit Model},
  author={Imperati, Vincenzo and La Morgia, Massimo and Mei, Alessandro and Mongardini, Alberto Maria and Sassi, Francesco},
  booktitle={34th USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security 25)},
  year={2025}
}

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Conspiracy Resource Dataset

The dataset is included in two files. The conspiracy_resource_dataset.csv file contains the resources collected and their source. The conspiracy_resource_dataset_supplementary.csv file contains the identifiers of all videos shared within conspiracy-related YouTube channels. Indeed data we extracted from the sources consisted only of YouTube channel identifiers. We enhanced this dataset by extracting the IDs of all videos shared within these channels.

The conspiracy_resource_dataset.csv contains the following columns:

• resource: Contains the resource collected.
• platform: Specifies the platform targeted by the resource.
• source_0,source_1,source_2: Each column contains a reference to the scientific paper or repository from which the resource was collected. Multiple columns are used because a resource can be mentioned in more than one scientific paper or repository.

The resource field is interpreted differently based on the value of the platform field:

• youtube: Contains the identifier of a YouTube channel.

  • Usage: If the field contains UCKt4TYGQihKkrfLokfgWilg, the channel can be accessed at: www.youtube.com/channel/UCKt4TYGQihKkrfLokfgWilg

• reddit: Contains the identifier of a subreddit.

  • Usage: If the field contains UFOs, the subreddit can be accessed at: www.reddit.com/r/UFOs

• 8kun: Contains the identifier of an 8kun board.

  • Usage: If the field contains qresearch, the board can be accessed at: www.8kun.top/qresearch

• voat: Contains the identifier of a Voat subverse.

  • Usage: If the field contains GreatAwakening, the subverse can be accessed at: www.voat.co/v/GreatAwakening (Note: Voat is currently shut down and can only be accessed through an archive: https://searchvoat.co/v/)

• web: Contains the URL of a website.

  • Usage: If the field contains zerohedge.com, the resource refers to the website: www.zerohedge.com

The conspiracy_resource_dataset_supplementary.csv file contains two columns:

• youtube_channel: Contains the identifier of a YouTube channel.
• youtube_video: Contains the identifier of a YouTube video we extracted from the corresponding Youtube channel.
  • Usage:if the field contains the id: j5T9xmWalGg, the video can be accessed at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5T9xmWalGg

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Conspiracy URL Dataset

This dataset contains URLs shared within the channels included in TGDataset, the largest publicly available collection of Telegram channels.

To extract the URLs, we follow the above process, explained in detail in Sec. 4.2 of the manuscript:

1. We collected all messages from Telegram channels included in the TGDataset.

2. We identified URLs shared in the collected messages and resolved any shortened URLs to their full form.

3. The extracted URLs were matched with resources in the Conspiracy Resource Dataset.

At the end of this process, we identified a dataset of URLs that directly reference conspiracy resources and are actively shared on Telegram. The dataset is contained in the conspiracy_url_dataset.csv file and contains three columns:

• URL: Indicates an URL extracted from a Telegram Channel
• resource: Contains the resource used to perform the match.
• platform: Specifies the platform targeted by the resource.
• count: Indicates the number of matches found for the URL within Telegram channels.

Notes on Data Extraction

Youtube : We explored alternative platforms hosting YouTube videos that preserve their original identifiers (video and channel IDs). Specifically, we included URLs pointing to YouTube videos accessed through alternative frontends like Invidious or altCensored. Additionally, we considered matches found on platforms such as Odysee and Rumble, which enable content creators to migrate videos directly from YouTube. Indeed, also in these cases, the migrated videos and channels retain their original YouTube identifiers.

Voat: Voat was shut down on December 25, 2020. Since then, the platform's content has been accessible only through an archive: http://searchvoat.co. For this reason, when searching for URLs matching Voat subverses, we consider both www.voat.co/v/ and https://searchvoat.co/v/.