Information Laundromat

The Information Laundromat

Track content relationships from across the infosphere

The Information Laundromat is a lead generation tool used to determine if and how websites share architecture and content. It provides two core functions: content similarity and domain forensics matching

Content Similarity
Metadata Similarity

Enter a URL, the title, or a snippet of text from an article to search for instances of reposted or similar articles that appear on search engines, the GDELT database, or a plagiarism detection tool. Searching by URL automatically parses the title and content, but this feature does not work on all sites. Title and content can be specified using _title: or _content:. Accuracy varies with text length and uniqueness; common phrases like "Vladimir Putin" yield less precise results.

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Please log in or register to run batch searches. Contact us at info [at] securingdemocracy.org to obtain a registration code.

Investigate Content Laundering

Use the Laundromat to uncover websites republishing content from Russian state media. This function highlights articles that closely resemble the original sources, enabling analysis of content laundering at a large scale. A detailed report of the network involved is available below.

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Uncover RT's Mirror Networks

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue has identified domains that are mirror images of RT websites, down to branding and code. Utilize the Laundromat's Metadata Similarity tool to detect common features across these mirrors.

Read Report

Generate Open Source Intelligence Leads

The Laundromat is also instrumental in producing OSINT leads regarding the construction, sponsorship, and social media linkages of websites, regardless of their content's provenance.

Interpreting the Laundromat Results View All Indicators + Descriptions

About the Laundromat Results

Results from the Laundromat are generated by comparing the content and metadata of websites to identify similarities. For detailed help interpreting the results, please see the About page.

Interpreting Content Similarity

This tool compares headlines, text snippets, or URLs with results generated by search engines, databases, and plagiarism checkers to find similar texts. It filters out unrelated content and assigns a match score to gauge similarity. A score of 100% indicates a complete match between the queried text and a result, while a value of 0% indicates no match. While this scoring method is very accurate when querying a snippet of text, it is less accurate when querying URLs because websites often contain sidebars or other text on the page that is different from the original source, even if the article itself is identical. Scores of 50% or more typically mean a closer match, minimizing false positives. Accuracy varies with text length and uniqueness; common phrases like "Vladimir Putin" yield less precise results.

Interpreting Metadata Similarity

This function uncovers indicators (such as Google analytics IDs, IP addresses, CSS classes, etc.) that make a site unique and that can be used to discover commonalities between and among websites. These indicators are compared with other queried domains and a list of domains already processed by the tool to find similar items. It uses a three-tier system to categorize the indicators based on their strength and reliability. (See the Indicators page for more information about the tier system). We urge caution, however, when interpreting metadata results. There are legitimate reasons why unrelated sites might share indicators in common, even tier one indicators. Indicators in common should therefore not be interpreted, without additional confirmation, as definitive proof of a relationship between two or more identified sites.

For the metadata section, ChatGPT or other large language models (LLMs) can be used to help interpret the results. We suggest typing this prompt and copying the indicators table below using the 'Copy' button. Prompt: "Assist me in interpreting these results from an OSINT tool that uses domain forensics 'indicators' to identify potential aspects of the site that are unique or could assist in further OSINT investigations. Note good investigatory leads, social media, useful IDs, and indicators of how the website was made, as well as if an indicator could be misleading. Results:"

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Sponsoring Organizations

Implementing Organizations

The sole responsibility for any content supported by the European Media and Information Fund lies with the author(s) and it may not necessarily reflect the positions of the EMIF and the Fund Partners, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the European University Institute.

GDPR Compliance Notice

The Information Laundromat is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This disclaimer outlines the nature of the data processing activities conducted by our tool. Selecting 'Accept' consents to the data collection

Data Collection and Use

The Information Laundromat tool collects data through two forms, as part of its functions: Content Similarity Search and Domain Forensics Matching. Content Similarity Search: This function processes URLs and text snippets provided by the user to detect occurrences of the given text across various websites. Domain Forensics Matching: This function processes a domain URL and analyzes aspects of website architecture, design, and usage to identify unique indicators. Additional data—IPs, pages visited, and time of visit—are collected automatically as part of website analytics and logging. Logs are deleted after 30 days and analytics are anonymized.

Purpose of Processing

The form data and results are collected and are solely used for the purpose of usage analytics and potential corpus expansion.