The Caliphate Is Not a Tweet Away: The Social Media Experience of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
September 18, 2023
This article offers a descriptive analysis of the propaganda activities of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on Internet social media. It examines the group’s propaganda actions from its creation in 1998 until the end of 2015 and argues that the use of social media, Twitter in particular, has failed to offer any real remedy ...
Tweeting Situational Awareness During the Sydney Siege
September 18, 2023
This article seeks to investigate the way in which social media can affect terrorist events. Using the 2014 Sydney siege as its primary focus, it will argue that the public’s social media activity, particularly the capacity to engage in ‘reporting’ of live events as they occur, can shift the tactical advantage from counterterrorism officials to ...
The Use of Social Media by Terrorist Fundraisers and Financiers
September 18, 2023
Financiers and fundraisers for al-Qaida and Islamic State (ISIS) are active users of popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, in some cases even after being placed on a United Nations or US government sanctions list. Terrorist financiers and fundraisers have utilized social media to attract and direct funding to procure ...
Combating ISIS Online
September 18, 2023
Combating ISIS Online Panelists talked about *ISIS’ use of the Internet and social media to recruit supporters. They also addressed the U.S. government’s efforts to combat the terror group online. Other topics included whether internet and social media companies should be forced to identify and/or ban those suspected of promoting terror. The Islamic State of Iraq and ...
Golden Dawn, Austerity and Young People: The Rise of Fascist Extremism among Young People in Contemporary Greek Society
September 18, 2023
The contemporary rise of popular support for fascism is investigated in this article through an examination of Golden Dawn’s remarkable appeal to a section of Greek youth. This leads to the problematization of mainstream explanatory and interpretive discourses that attribute Golden Dawn’s electoral and political attractiveness almost exclusively to anger and a will to punish ...
Who Views Online Extremism? Individual Attributes Leading to Exposure
September 18, 2023
Who is likely to view materials online maligning groups based on race, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, political views, immigration status, or religion? We use an online survey (N = 1034) of youth and young adults recruited from a demographically balanced sample of Americans to address this question. By studying demographic characteristics and online habits ...
Countering Online Youth Radicalisation
September 18, 2023
Dr Leah Farrall from the National Security College, ANU in conversation with Dr John Coyne, Head – Border Security Program – ASPI. ...
Al-Qa‘ida’s Editor: Abu Jandal al-Azdi’s Online Jihadi Activism
September 18, 2023
This article deals with the online activism of Abu Jandal al-Azdi, one of the main ideologues of the now-defunct Saudi version of Al-Qa‘ida on the Arabian Peninsula (QAP), whose writings have been all but neglected in publications on this organisation. While rightly seen as only a mediocre religious scholar, I contend that al-Azdi is nevertheless ...
Pathways to Violent Extremism in the Digital Era
September 18, 2023
The Internet is often singled out as the key means through which extremists and terrorists are radicalised. Yet, argue Charlie Edwards and Luke Gribbon, research thus far has fallen short of unearthing the actual mechanisms through which this radicalisation takes place. Using examples from a wider study, they explore different ways in which individuals have ...
The Supremacy of Online White Supremacists – an Analysis of Online Discussions by White Supremacists
September 18, 2023
A content analysis was conducted on five different white supremacist online forums to observe the discourse and types of activities occurring within. In addition, web link analysis was conducted on the forums to identify the presence of external links being posted and discussed by members. We found that members used the forums primarily for information ...