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By Ryan Scrivens, Joshua D. Freilich, Steven M. Chermak, and Richard Frank Click to read this article in French and German. The role of the Internet in facilitating violent extremism and terrorism is a primary concern for many researchers, practitioners, and policymakers around the world. The so-called Islamic State, an internationally designated terrorist organization, released ...

Welcome to Volume 11, Issue 1 of the VOX-Pol Newsletter. INTRODUCING THE NEW VOX-Pol WEBSITE The VOX-Pol website is relaunched! The new site has been refreshed and redesigned to reflect our work as an international research network on online extremism and terrorism. Alongside the Events, Blog, News and Newsletter pages, it now also features: Next ...

By Alex Borkowski, York University, Canada; Marion Tempest Grant, York University, Canada, and Natalie Coulter, York University, Canada An increasingly volatile online environment is affecting our society, including members of the academic community and research they pursue. Graduate students are especially vulnerable to online hate, because cultivating a visible social media presence is considered essential ...

By Ellie Rogers Most major tech companies are actively removing illegal content such as terrorist and violent extremist content (TVEC) as part of the e-Commerce directive. However, there has been an increasing focus on the need for tech companies to address borderline TVEC proportionately, consistently and transparently. There is no universal definition for borderline TVEC, ...

By Kenneth R. Hanson, C.J. Pascoe, and Ryan Light This article summarizes a recent paper published in Sex Roles that examines how cultural issues of masculinity, whiteness, and straightness are expressed and valued on the semi-anonymous online forum Reddit.     Today’s world might seem more egalitarian than ever, with legal rights protecting numerous minority populations ...

Welcome to Volume 10, Issue 4 of the VOX-Pol Newsletter. UPCOMING VOX-Pol ONLINE EVENTS Look out for two VOX-Pol online events coming up in December. The first of the VOX-Pol Next Gen Academic Survival Workshops takes place on Wednesday 6 December on the topic of Early Career Researcher Safety, Well-Being, and Ethics. We will explore the complexities, challenges, and dangers of studying ...

By Lindsay Hahn Terrorists killed more than 20,000 people in 2019 alone. According to the Global Terrorism Database, more than 900,000 actors were responsible for directly perpetrating over 200,000 terrorist attacks between the years of 1970-2019. Countless additional actors are likely to have indirectly helped the groups plan their attacks. Although it might seem reasonable ...

By Elizabeth Pearson  In 2018 Twitter removed radical right activist turned self-styled ‘journalist’ Tommy Robinson from the platform. Five years later, he is back. What are the implications for British politics and extremism? Tommy Robinson is the latest of a group of extreme and anti-Islam actors Elon Musk has readmitted to Twitter/X. Robinson’s account reappeared ...

By Sean McCafferty & Kamil Yilmaz This analysis is Part 2 of a two-part post. Both are based on data gathered between 7 October and 9 October 2023 from two Telegram channels sharing propaganda related to the unfolding violence in Israel and Palestine: an official Telegram channel of the al-Qassam Brigades and an unofficial pro-Hamas ...

By Sean McCafferty & Kamil Yilmaz On the morning of Saturday, 7 October 2023, a barrage of rockets targeted Israel from Gaza, followed by militants from a variety of Gaza-based terrorist organisations breaking through checkpoints and military positions around Gaza and entering Israel. This led to unprecedented violence against nearby Israeli military positions, kibbutzim, and ...