Journal Article

There has been a long-standing yet largely unreported intersection between video-gaming and violent extremism, spanning across jihadist, far-right, and other types of ideologies. Within this framework, until late, scant attention has been paid to the concept of “gamification”; i.e. the application of gaming and game-design principles within non-gaming environments. This paper contributes to this newly ...

From early Bulletin Board Systems adopted by neo-Nazis to the Islamic State’s more recent prolific use of social media platforms, an aspect of terrorism studies that is generally agreed upon is that violent extremists are often early adopters of emerging technologies. These groups, organisations, and networks have demonstrated innovative uses of these digital spaces, harnessed ...

The purpose of this study is to synthesize the literature relating to radicalization on social media, a space with enhanced concerns about nurturing propaganda and conspiracies for violent extremism. Through the systematic review of 82 peer-reviewed studies related to radicalization through social media published in scholarly journals, this paper evidence the growth of robust studies ...

Recognizing the correlation between the growing spread of violent extremist and terrorist content on the internet and online platforms and the significant increase in attacks inspired by these posts prompted governments, security agencies, and private companies to launch various countermeasures to reduce the spread and impact of such material. Struggling to adjust to these countermeasures ...

In Europe and North America, an increasing proportion of individuals who are referred to de-radicalization programmes, arrested for terrorism offences, or involved in politically motivated violence, present a ‘mixed, unclear, and unstable’ (MUU) ideological profile instead of holding a single, clear and coherent extremist belief system. Where do these composite and often inconsistent ideological constructs ...

How does removing the leadership of online hate organizations from online platforms change behavior in their target audience? We study the effects of six network disruptions of designated and banned hate-based organizations on Facebook, in which known members of the organizations were removed from the platform, by examining the online engagements of the audience of ...

This article brings together expert assessments concerning the relationship between children and online extremism, to help inform scholars and policymakers seeking to address the effects of early childhood exposure to extremism content. Our approach comprised of eight semi-structured interviews involving experts, practitioners, and policymakers offering their professional assessments on the relationship between children and online ...

This article examines the digital convergence of distinct extremist milieus involved in the Patriotic Union’s thwarted plot to overthrow the German government in December 2022. By specifically investigating the merging process of involved digital networks of the German Corona-protest and Sovereign Citizens milieu over time, this article analyses the event’s broader implications for the German ...

Previous research has documented that the internet plays an increasingly important role in facilitating involvement in terrorism. However, the level of specificity of this literature is low. Advancing current insights, we examined how three concrete examples of active (i.e., generate/disseminate terrorist propaganda; interact with co-ideologues) and two examples of passive (i.e., learn about terrorist ideologies/actors; ...

This protocol outlines a systematic review that aims to understand the effectiveness of educational programmes, delivered both online and offline, designed to prevent and counter the effects of online violent extremist propaganda in multiple languages. The primary objective is to assess the impact of interventions on reducing violent extremist attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. A secondary ...