Dark Knowledge and Platform Governance: A Case of an Illicit E-Commerce Community in Reddit

K. Hazel Kwon; Chun Shao

doi:10.1177/0002764221989770

Dark Knowledge and Platform Governance: A Case of an Illicit E-Commerce Community in Reddit

K. Hazel Kwon, Chun Shao

Journalism and Mass Communication, Walter Cronkite School of (CRONKITE)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examines the dark information commons in Reddit, a pseudonymous social news site, in the context of illicit e-commerce communities. Unlike market forums that are hosted in the dark web, Reddit is open to users of both the clear and dark web, unwittingly serving as a gateway for potential newcomers to learn and prepare their entrance into darknet market systems. To illustrate how information commons in Reddit bolster the resilience of illicit e-commerce communication ecology, this study presents information and knowledge flows in a subreddit community dedicated to a now-defunct market called AlphaBay. This study expands the discussion of the challenges that Reddit, as information commons, encounters in governing the flow of dark knowledge.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	779-799
Number of pages	21
Journal	American Behavioral Scientist
Volume	65
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764221989770
State	Published - May 2021

Keywords

Reddit
anonymous communities
dark web
darknet market
illicit e-commerce

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology
Cultural Studies
Education
Sociology and Political Science
General Social Sciences

Access to Document

10.1177/0002764221989770

Cite this

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title = "Dark Knowledge and Platform Governance: A Case of an Illicit E-Commerce Community in Reddit",

abstract = "This study examines the dark information commons in Reddit, a pseudonymous social news site, in the context of illicit e-commerce communities. Unlike market forums that are hosted in the dark web, Reddit is open to users of both the clear and dark web, unwittingly serving as a gateway for potential newcomers to learn and prepare their entrance into darknet market systems. To illustrate how information commons in Reddit bolster the resilience of illicit e-commerce communication ecology, this study presents information and knowledge flows in a subreddit community dedicated to a now-defunct market called AlphaBay. This study expands the discussion of the challenges that Reddit, as information commons, encounters in governing the flow of dark knowledge.",

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Dark Knowledge and Platform Governance: A Case of an Illicit E-Commerce Community in Reddit

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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