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New Trends and Challenges in Information Science and Information Seeking Behaviour pp 49–58Cite as

Sharing Identity Information on Dark Web Drug Boards

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Part of the Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems book series (LNNS,volume 193)

Abstract

This chapter uses Elfreda Chatman’s concept of small worlds and Reijo Savolainen’s concept of Way of Life to examine identity information sharing on a Finnish Dark Web drug trading image board. Based on a curated set of posts, it shows how people’s identity information sharing on such anonymous fora often centres around issues of trust and safety. The chapter discovers that like other small world virtual communities, these too are of information poor environments, where some participants are seen as outsiders and some as insiders, based on factors such as age, ethnicity, and information sharing.

Keywords

  • Information practices
  • Information sharing
  • Dark Web
  • Drug trading
  • Image board

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  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-68466-2_5
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Acknowledgements

This research was partially supported by Academy of Finland grant 329342-5, Extremist Networks, Narcotics and Criminality in Online Darknet Environments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, Helsinki, Finland

    Maria Hakalahti

  2. Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    J. Tuomas Harviainen

Authors
  1. Maria Hakalahti
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  2. J. Tuomas Harviainen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Tuomas Harviainen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication Sciences, Faculty of Letters, and Doctoral School in Communication Sciences, Faculty of Journalism and Communication Studies, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Octavia-Luciana Madge

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Hakalahti, M., Harviainen, J.T. (2021). Sharing Identity Information on Dark Web Drug Boards. In: Madge, OL. (eds) New Trends and Challenges in Information Science and Information Seeking Behaviour. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 193. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68466-2_5

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