Skinhead Super Mario Brothers: An Examination of Racist and Violent Games on White Supremacist Web Sites
September 18, 2023
This study uses qualitative interpretive textual analysis of video games found on hate and extremist Web sites to explore the proliferation of these games on the Internet and the extent they advocate violence and conflict or portray hate groups in a positive way to existing and potential members. In particular, this study examines the “enemies” ...
Jihadi Culture on the World Wide Web
September 18, 2023
This volume examines “jihadi” content on the Internet by drawing on both Arabic and English primary source materials. After examining this content as digital media, the work looks at how it is productively consumed by online communities, including how “jihadi” individuals construct themselves online and how jihadism is practiced and represented as an online activity. ...
Jihad in the Global Village: Al-Qaeda’s Digital Radicalization and Recruitment Campaign
September 18, 2023
Following America’s “War on Terror,” al-Qaeda and its affiliates became highly decentralized in terms of organizational and media operations. Though mass media outlets continue to play a significant role in drawing attention to al-Qaeda’s transnational campaign, Salafi Jihadists have recently begun to rely on new media for purposes of legitimization and promotion. The Internet serves ...
Resurgent Insurgents: Quantitative Research Into Jihadists Who Get Suspended but Return on Twitter
September 18, 2023
Jihadists are very active on Twitter but their accounts frequently get suspended. A substantial debate over the effectiveness of suspension has arisen; an important factor is that Jihadists quickly create new accounts, resurging back like a game of whack-a-mole. This causes biases for terrorism and intelligence analysts. Whilst widely acknowledged, little research addresses the problem. ...
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 ...
Analyzing Terror Campaigns on the Internet: Technical Sophistication, Content Richness, and Web Interactivity
September 18, 2023
Terrorists and extremists are increasingly utilizing Internet technology to enhance their ability to influence the outside world. Due to the lack of multi-lingual and multimedia terrorist/extremist collections and advanced analytical methodologies, our empirical understanding of their Internet usage is still very limited. To address this research gap, we explore an integrated approach for identifying and ...
Picture Or It Didn’t Happen: A Snapshot of the Islamic State’s Official Media Output
September 18, 2023
This article seeks to examine, quantitatively and qualitatively, one week of official media releases of the Islamic State (IS). Due to the breadth of IS official media releases, this provides a snapshot upon which to better understand the different styles and messaging streams IS releases on a weekly basis. The article shows that IS produces ...
A War of Keywords: How Extremists are Exploiting the Internet and What to do About It
September 18, 2023
This research centred on three layers of analysis: Firstly, understanding the keywords, or search terms, people use to find information on Google; secondly, looking at the data demonstrating links going into a selection of known extremist websites in order to understand their relationships with other websites; and thirdly, analysing the content of Google search results ...