TGDataset: Collecting and Exploring the Largest Telegram Channels Dataset

Telegram is a widely adopted instant messaging platform. It has become worldwide popular because of its emphasis on privacy and its social network features such as channels-virtual rooms in which only the admins can post and broadcast messages to all the subscribers. Channels are used to deliver live updates (e.g., weather alerts) and content to a large audience (e.g., COVID-19 announcements) but unfortunately also to disseminate radical ideologies and coordinate attacks such as the Capitol Hill riot.