Journal Article
#IS_Fangirl: Exploring a New Role for Women in Terrorism
September 18, 2023In this paper we present initial results from an ongoing study of women affiliated with pro-IS networks on Twitter and other social media. Our particular focus is on 20 accounts belonging to individual identified as ‘fan girls.’ Drawing on an analysis of Twitter posts from these 20 accounts, we identify key characteristics of the fan ...
Domestic Terrorism, Cyber-Radicalization, and American College Students
September 18, 2023Since 9/11, there has been an increase in domestic terrorism inspired by the Global Salafi Jihad ideology. Some of the individuals who undergo radicalization are U.S. college and university students. Radicalization is promoted on the Internet in ways that appeal to the young and impact those who are searching for their identities, their places in ...
The Enduring Influence of Anwar Al-Awlaki in the age of the Islamic State
September 18, 2023Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, the leading English-language propagandist for al-Qa`ida, was killed in an American drone strike in 2011. But his influence has lived on into the Islamic State era, enhanced by his status as a martyr for Islam in the eyes of his admirers. His massive internet presence has turned up as a factor ...
Topic-Specific YouTube Crawling to Detect Online Radicalization
September 18, 2023Online video sharing platforms such as YouTube contains several videos and users promoting hate and extremism. Due to low barrier to publication and anonymity, YouTube is misused as a platform by some users and communities to post negative videos disseminating hatred against a particular religion, country or person. We formulate the problem of identification of ...
Tracking Online Radicalization Using Investigative Data Mining
September 18, 2023The increasing complexity and emergence of Web 2.0 applications have paved way for threats arising out of the use of social networks by cyber extremists (Radical groups). Radicalization (also called cyber extremism and cyber hate propaganda) is a growing concern to the society and also of great pertinence to governments & law enforcement agencies all ...
ISIS and the Institution of Online Terrorist Recruitment
September 18, 2023The rise of ISIS and associated jihadi violence taking place in Syria and Iraq has reverberated widely. The effects can be felt not just in the horrific attacks that took place in Paris in January 2015, but across the Asia-Pacific region as well, including Australia. Public officials and analysts are struggling to understand and devise ...
Anders Behring Breivik’s use of the Internet and social media
September 18, 2023Did the Internet play a decisive role in Anders Behring Breivik’s violent radicalization? It has proven difficult to understand if and how the Internet influences radicalization processes leading to political violence (Conway 2012). The Internet constitutes only one out of a wide range of factors with a potential influence on radical and violent behavior. We ...
The Original Web of Hate – Revolution Muslim and American Homegrown Extremists
September 18, 2023Before the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leveraged the Internet into a truly modern quasi-state propaganda machine through horrendous online videos, travel handbooks, and sophisticated Twitter messengering, more humble yet highly effective precursors targeted youthful Western Muslims for radicalism, during a time when home grown plots peaked. These brash new entrants into ...
Google Based Reactions to ISIS’s Attacks: A Statistical Analysis
September 18, 2023The main purpose of this policy brief is to highlight the risks of radicalization by utilizing statistical analysis. The main question interrogated here is to determine the relation between the level of social reaction and ISIS’s attacks. These reactions are measured through Google Trends of news, web searches, and video ratings. Methodologically, Turkey, France, Belgium, ...
New Media and Terrorism: Role of the Social Media to Countering Cyber Terrorism and Cyber Extremism for Effective Response
September 18, 2023Discourse of terrorism and social media are often discussed the last few years, discussions related to the issue of terrorism is often associated with social media is considered to be one of the tools used to spread the ideology of terrorist networks even recruiting members. Terrorist networks utilizing social media to conduct ideological campaign covertly ...