Project Abstract

The encrypted messaging platform Telegram has emerged as a haven for right-wing extremist groups, providing a cloak of privacy to spread hate, intolerance, and potentially violent propaganda. This project tackles the pressing challenge of monitoring and understanding these activities by developing an automated system to collect and analyze data from such groups operating on Telegram. The rapid spread of online extremism poses a significant threat to social stability and marginalized communities, necessitating innovative solutions.By leveraging techniques like web scraping, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning, the system aims to extract insights into the narratives, ideologies, and potential threats propagated by these encrypted groups. The project’s unique positioning lies in harnessing automation to overcome the challenges of manually tracking these channels, while employing cutting-edge AI methods for comprehensive analysis of propaganda content.The main research questions explore identifying predominant narratives, misinformation campaigns, and the effectiveness of machine learning models in detecting extremist rhetoric. The proposed methodology involves robust data collection mechanisms, NLP for text analysis, and machine learning to uncover themes and trends. Network analysis will elucidate influential nodes and information flow, while longitudinal analysis tracks narrative evolution.If successful, the system could provide invaluable insights into the scale, dynamics, and risks associated with these extremist movements. Findings may include key propaganda themes, misinformation patterns, calls to violence, and the network topologies facilitating their spread. Ultimately, this project aims to contribute a powerful tool for counter-extremism efforts, enabling better understanding and mitigation strategies to help foster a more inclusive society.

Keywords: Automated Data Collection, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing

 Conference Details

Session: Presentation Stream 1 at Presentation Slot 1

Location: GH049 at Tuesday 7th 13:30 – 17:00

Markers: Chen Hu (GTA), Simon Robinson

Course: MSc Data Science, Masters PG

Future Plans: I’m looking for work