Blog
Some online conspiracy-spreaders don’t even believe the lies they’re spewing
October 16, 2024
H. Colleen Sinclair, Louisiana State University There has been a lot of research on the types of people who believe conspiracy theories, and their reasons for doing so. But there’s a wrinkle: My colleagues and I have found that there are a number of people sharing conspiracies online who don’t believe their own content. They ...
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Nazis at the salad bar: The National Workers’ Alliance and mixed, unclear, and unstable ideology
October 9, 2024
By Gerard Gill Recent developments in violent extremism have included an uptick in the salience of mixed, unclear, and unstable (MUU) or ‘salad bar’ ideologies. These are worldviews where numerous, sometimes disparate perspectives combine in a dynamic and evolving manner, resulting in a belief system that is hard to comprehensively define. A growth in MUU ...
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Nazis en el bar de ensaladas: La Alianza Nacional de Trabajadores y la ideología mixta, confusa e inestable
October 9, 2024
De Gerard Gill La evolución reciente del extremismo violentismo ha incluido un aumento de la prominencia de las ideologías mixtas, confusas e inestables (MCE) o  ideologías ‘bar de ensaladas’. Estos son visiones del mundo en las que numerosas perspectivas, a veces dispares, se combinan de forma dinámica y evolutiva, dando lugar a un sistema de ...
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Bangladesh’s political transition viewed as opportunity by Islamic State and al-Qaeda
October 2, 2024
By Sean McCafferty and Marjuka Binte Afzal Bangladesh’s recent political turmoil has sparked interest from Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda (AQ), both seeing the regime change as a strategic opportunity. With the government in transition, security reforms needed, and jihadist propaganda targeting Bangladesh, there is a risk of increased jihadist activity during the country’s democratic ...
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Three steps to talking to a loved one at risk of being radicalised into rioting
September 25, 2024
Anthony English, The Open University For some, the shocking scenes of violence which have erupted across dozens of locations in England and Northern Ireland will evoke an all-too-real concern – could someone close to me get involved in the violence? Alongside those directly affected by the act of rioting itself, there are another set of ...
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Middle-aged radicalisation: why are so many of Britain’s rioters in their 40s and 50s?
September 18, 2024
Sara H Wilford, De Montfort University Look closely at the pictures of the violent unrest that has spread across England and Northern Ireland and you will notice something that is not being spoken about. The rioters seen fighting, attacking police and setting fire to buildings are often middle aged – people in their 40s, 50s ...
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Emotions & Belonging in Far-Right Social Media Space
September 11, 2024
By Jonathan Collins This blog offers a condensed version of a recently published article in Social Media + Society. To read the full version, click here. The increased participation within far-right alternative platforms (Alt-Tech) is generating significant attention from scholars interested in the community’s communication patterns and dynamics. Perhaps unsurprising for a movement seeking or ...
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“Dead society”: Tracing the Online Dimension of a Militant Accelerationist-Inspired Attack in Turkey
September 4, 2024
By Arthur Bradley An assailant injured at least five people with a knife in a tea garden in Sehit Rustem Demirbas Park, Eskisehir, northwestern Turkey, on 12 August. Police apprehended the 18-year-old suspect within a few minutes of the violence starting. He was dressed in camouflage trousers and an assault vest, helmet, goggles and skull mask, and also reportedly carried ...
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Breaking Ground: The EU’s First Far-Right Designation of ‘The Base’ and Its Impact on Online Content
August 2, 2024
By Anne Craanen In 2021, two members of The Base (a neo-Nazi accelerationist organisation) were arrested in the Netherlands for membership of a terrorist organisation as well as attempting a terrorist plot on former Prime Minister, Mark Rutte. On Friday 26 July 2024, the European Union (EU) sanctioned The Base as a terrorist organisation under ...
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Terrorism and Social Media (TASM) 2024 Reflections: Effective Cross-Sector Collaboration
July 31, 2024
By Katy Vaughan, Hadley Middleton, and Evan James The biennial Terrorism and Social Media (TASM) conference took place at Swansea University’s Bay Campus on 18th and 19th June 2024, with over 250 delegates from more than 20 countries. The event brings together a range of researchers, policymakers and practitioners from a number of different countries ...