The 2019 Lunch Briefing Series is a joint venture between VOX-Pol and the European Commission Representation in Belgium.
The briefings are aimed at an audience of policymakers, security practitioners, academics and graduate students, journalists, and civil society stakeholders who want to extend their knowledge of various topics related to violent online political extremism, and to network with specialists on this issue. Given the post-electoral context in Belgium and the increased presence of extremist discourse on social media, this series aims at providing Belgian and European stakeholders with food for thought and action, allowing them to engage in national or local debate.
The Lunch Briefing Series will take place in the European Quarter, Brussels on Tuesdays from 12.00 to 14.00. Each session will be live-streamed on our YouTube channel. Registration is essential and a link to the registration website is below.
Programme
1 October – Preventing online radicalisation – A state of play at EU-level
Hans Das, European Commission, Directorate-general for Migration and Home Affairs, Terrorism and Radicalisation
Venue: Berlaymont, Rue de la Loi 200, 1000 Brussels
8 October – The Radical Right, Extremism, and Disinformation in Europe and North America
Bharath Ganesh, Assistant Professor, University of Groningen
Venue: Press Club, Rue Froissart 95, 1040 Brussels
15 October – An Overview of EU Action on Tackling Disinformation: Belgian Action Against Disinformation and Insights on Alt-right Disinformation Networks in France and Belgium
Alexandre Alaphilippe, Member of the Belgian Expert Group on disinformation and fake news and Executive director of EU DisinfoLab
Venue: Press Club, Rue Froissart 95, 1040 Brussels
22 October – A Snapshot of the Contemporary Syrian Jihadi Online Ecology: Differential Disruption, Community Strength, and Out-linking Practices
Professor Maura Conway, Principal Investigator, VOX-Pol Network of Excellence, and Professor of International Security, Dublin City University
Venue: Press Club, Rue Froissart 95, 1040 Brussels
5 November – Engaging With Online Extremist Material: Experimental Evidence
Zoey Reeve, Vox-Pol Research Fellow, University of Newcastle, and a representative of the Radicalisation Network
Venue: Press Club, Rue Froissart 95, 1040 Brussels
12 November – How Extreme is the European Far Right?
Reem Ahmed, Researcher, Institute for Peace and Security Studies, University of Hamburg
Venue: Press Club, Rue Froissart 95, 1040 Brussels
Logistics and registration
The Briefing Series will take place close to Schuman, Brussels on Tuesdays from 12.00 to 14.00. This will include the presentation, a Q&A session, and a networking lunch. The working language will be English; there will be no interpretation provided.
The first session will take place at the Berlaymont, Rue de la Loi 200, 1000 Brussels
All other sessions will take place at the Press Club, Rue Froissart 95, 1040 Brussels
Registrations are open. As places are limited, we invite you to register here as soon as possible.
Do not hesitate to contact us for any information and assistance you may require.
If you have any questions regarding your registration and logistics, please contact: info@destree.be
We look forward to welcoming you in Brussels.
Speaker Biographies
Reem Ahmed @RAhmed105
Reem Ahmed is a Researcher at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH) working within the framework of VOX-Pol. She is also a PhD Candidate at the Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy Graduate School of Law (AMBSL) at the University of Hamburg. Her dissertation examines responses to online extremism in the UK, Germany, and the EU and is funded by a scholarship awarded by the AMBSL. She has previously published in the area of radicalisation and online extremism, with a particular focus on the far right and violent jihadis. She holds an undergraduate degree in Politics from the University of Leeds and an MA in International Security from the University of Groningen.
Alexandre Alaphilippe @AAlaphilippe
Alexandre Alaphilippe is the Executive Director of the EU DisinfoLab and Member of the Belgian Expert Group on disinformation and fake news. After a degree in Communications in his hometown of Clermont-Ferrand, France, Alexandre has worked for four years as Chief Digital Officer at the Clermont-Ferrand city hall. Moving in Brussels, he became very vocal on the crucial role of civil society organisations in maintaining democratic values, in 2017 Alexandre co-founded the EU DisinfoLab and is now recognised as an international expert on this field, participating to the Belgian expert group on disinformation and other international events.
Maura Conway @galwaygrrl
Maura Conway is Professor of International Security in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University (DCU) in Dublin, Ireland and Coordinator of VOX-Pol. Prof. Conway’s principal research interests are in the area of terrorism and the Internet, on which she is the author of over 40 articles and chapters. Her research has appeared in, amongst others, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Media, War & Conflict, Parliamentary Affairs, and Social Science Computer Review. Prof. Conway has presented her findings before the United Nations in New York, the Commission of the European Union in Brussels, the UK House of Lords, and elsewhere, and is a member of the Academic Advisory Board of Europol’s Counter-terrorism Centre.
Hans Das
Hans Das is Head of Unit for Terrorism and Radicalisation in the European Commission’s Directorate-general for Migration and Home Affairs
Bharath Ganesh @bganesh11
Bharath Ganesh is Assistant Professor in Media Studies at the University of Groningen and a Visiting Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute. His research focuses on hate, intolerance, and prejudice in Europe and North America, racism and bigotry in digital propaganda, and regulatory responses on online extremism. Bharath was a postdoctoral researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, where he contributed to projects on computational propaganda, the VOX-Pol Network of Excellence, and projects on data science use in local government. Bharath holds a PhD in Geography from University College London. His recent publications have appeared in Journal of International Affairs, Foreign Policy, and European Societies.
Zoey Reeve @ZoeyReeve
Zoey Reeve is a researcher specialising in terrorism, extremism and Social-Behavioural Science, currently lecturing in Newcastle University and responsible for postgraduate research training courses on quantitative data analysis for social sciences. She studied psychology, terrorism and international relations, and has a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. Zoey is a VOX-Pol Network of Excellence Research Fellow, she has recently published in the journal Terrorism and Political Violence with the experimental paper presented here, and is the author of a forthcoming VOX-Pol research report on the mental health of Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit Case Officers.
Slide presentations from the Lunch Briefing Series are now available below:
Week 5: Engaging With Online Extremist Material Experimental Evidence, Zoey Reeve
Week 6: How Extreme is the European Far-Right Reem Ahmed