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Part One – The Value of a Comparative Approach By Stuart Macdonald and Allysa Czerwinsky There is no doubt that terrorists and violent extremists use AI. As well as its documented use in the attacks in Las Vegas, Florida State University, Palm Springs and Tumbler Ridge, researchers have evidenced its use through both open-source and ...

By Alastair Reed, Jack Springett-Gilling and Ellie Rogers  This post is a lightly edited excerpt from “Online P/CVE Interventions,” a chapter in the just-published Routledge Handbook of Online Violent Extremism.  Over the past decade and more, as terrorist and violent extremist actors have become increasingly adept at exploiting the internet for radicalisation and recruitment, policymakers ...

Welcome to Volume 13, Issue 10 of the monthly VOX-Pol Newsletter Webinar to mark the publication of the Routledge Handbook of Online Violent Extremism Join us for a webinar to mark the publication of the Routledge Handbook of Online Violent Extremism. Dr Suraj Lakhani and Prof Stuart Macdonald, two of the Handbook’s co-editors, will be ...

By Elizabeth Pearson, Ashley A. Mattheis, Joe Whittaker and Maura Conway This post is a lightly edited excerpt from “Online Extremism and Terrorism Researcher Well-being,” a chapter in the just-published Routledge Handbook of Online Violent Extremism.  Over the last several years, researchers have begun to discuss their experiences of harm in this context. A 2019 ...

Neophytos Georgiou, Flinders University Recent media reports have suggested neo-nazis in Australia may be actively trying to recruit autistic young men. Some research – including my own – suggests some autistic people may be more likely to engage with harmful content online, including conspiracy theories and extremist ideology. But this is a tricky area to ...

By Wyn Brodersen and Maik Fielitz Antisemitic content on TikTok rarely announces itself. It arrives as a number, an emoji, a joke about a hollow earth — and that is exactly what makes it spread. In February 2026, a local politician for Germany’s far-right AfD shared a video on Instagram. Its text asked whether “an ...

By J.M. Berger This article is an adapted and lightly edited excerpt from Online Extremism, a chapter in the forthcoming Routledge Handbook of Online Violent Extremism. While the Internet can be and is used as a simple broadcasting tool for spreading ideas and ideologies to new audiences, its most powerful innovation was participation. Unlike radio ...

We are very pleased to announce that Routledge is publishing the Handbook of Online Violent Extremism on 29th September.  The Handbook is edited by Suraj Lakhani (University of Sussex), Stuart Macdonald (Swansea University), Julian Droogan (Macquarie University), and Lydia Khalil (Deakin University). The volume, running to around 40 chapters and drawing on more than 50 contributors, ...

Timothy Koskie, University of Sydney Popular encrypted messaging app Telegram failed to detect and remove pro-terrorist and extremist material, including videos of executions and attacks, a new lawsuit launched by Australia’s online watchdog alleges. The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, announced in Sydney on Thursday morning she was taking legal action against Telegram in the ...

Welcome to Volume 13, Issue 9 of the monthly VOX-Pol Newsletter The Routledge Handbook of Online Violent Extremism We are very pleased to announce that Routledge is publishing the Handbook of Online Violent Extremism on 29th September and is available to pre-order now.  The Handbook is edited by Suraj Lakhani (University of Sussex), Stuart Macdonald (Swansea University), Julian ...