In recent years, major social media platforms have implemented increasingly strict moderation policies, resulting in bans and restrictions on conspiracy theory-related content. To circumvent these restrictions, conspiracy theorists are turning to alternatives, such as Telegram, where they can express and spread their views with fewer limitations. Telegram offers channels -- virtual rooms where only administrators can broadcast messages -- and a more permissive content policy. These features have created the perfect breeding ground for a complex ecosystem of conspiracy channels. In this paper, we illuminate this ecosystem. First, we propose an approach to detect conspiracy channels. Then, we discover that conspiracy channels can be clustered into four distinct communities comprising over 17,000 channels. Finally, we uncover the "Conspiracy Money Machine," revealing how most conspiracy channels actively seek to profit from their subscribers. We find conspiracy theorists leverage e-commerce platforms to sell questionable products or lucratively promote them through affiliate links. Moreover, we observe that conspiracy channels use donation and crowdfunding platforms to raise funds for their campaigns. We determine that this business involves hundreds of donors and generates a turnover of over $90 million.

翻译：近年来，主流社交媒体平台实施了日益严格的审核政策，导致与阴谋论相关的内容被删除或限制。为规避这些限制，阴谋论者转向Telegram等替代平台，在那里他们能以更少的约束表达和传播观点。Telegram提供频道——仅限管理员发布消息的虚拟房间——并实行更宽松的内容政策。这些特征为复杂的阴谋论频道生态系统创造了完美的滋生土壤。本文揭示了这一生态系统。首先，我们提出了一种检测阴谋论频道的方法。然后，发现阴谋论频道可聚类为四个不同的社群，涵盖超过17,000个频道。最后，我们揭示了“阴谋论赚钱机器”，阐述了大多数阴谋论频道如何积极试图从订阅者身上获利。我们发现阴谋论者利用电商平台销售可疑产品，或通过联盟营销链接进行盈利性推广。此外，我们观察到阴谋论频道使用捐赠和众筹平台为其活动筹集资金。我们判定这一生意涉及数百名捐赠者，并产生了超过9000万美元的收入。