The Semiotic Construction of Identities in Hypermedia Environments: The Analysis of Online Communication of the Estonian Extreme Right
September 18, 2023
My dissertation consists of six articles and the framing chapter. The framing chapter begins with introducing the problem of online identity-creation and lays bare the tendency of the formation of vernacular webs, which are opposed to dominant media and state authorities. I point out the major reasons as to why it is relevant, and highly ...
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. ...
Mechachal: Online Debates and Elections in Ethiopia
September 18, 2023
We are delighted to announce the launch of the final report of the Mechachal project, one of first academic studies to contextually examine how hate speech emerges and disseminates in social media. Focusing on Ethiopia, and in collaboration with Addis Ababa University, the research team examined thousands of comments made by Ethiopians on Facebook during ...
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 ...
In Defense of Honor: Women and Terrorist Recruitment on the Internet
September 18, 2023
Until today there have been no women in the core leadership of Al Qaeda (Al Qaeda al Sulba). While the organization is frequently described as patriarchal and exclusive of women, women are among its most fervent supporters. A significant recent development in women’s participation in violent extremism has been the dissemination of radical ideologies online ...
Combating Violent Extremism and Radicalization in the Digital Era
September 18, 2023
Advances in digital technologies have provided ample positive impacts to modern society; however, in addition to such benefits, these innovations have inadvertently created a new venue for criminal activity to generate. Combating Violent Extremism and Radicalization in the Digital Era is an essential reference for the latest research on the utilization of online tools by ...
Inter-ideological mingling: White extremist ideology entering the mainstream on Twitter
September 18, 2023
This case study explores the convergence of white extremist political ideology with mainstream political ideology on the micro-blogging platform Twitter – a phenomenon termed “inter-ideological mingling”. Exploring the spread of white extremism in the digital environment can provide insight into the growth of hate groups in the physical environment. A sample of 4800 tweets was ...
New Media and Terrorism: Role of the Social Media to Countering Cyber Terrorism and Cyber Extremism for Effective Response
September 18, 2023
Discourse 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 ...
Hate Crime and Bullying in the Age of Social Media
September 18, 2023
The All Wales Hate Crime Project (Williams & Tregidga 2013, 2014) highlighted the emerging problem of cyberhate and cyber bulling via social media through interviews with victims. Opportunities for online engagement have increased exponentially over the past two decades. In 1999 only 10 per cent of UK households had access to the Internet. The number ...
Women, Social Media and Violent Extremism
September 18, 2023
As a growing number of women engage in violent extremism, urgent questions about their recruitment and motivations are yet to be answered, particularly on the role of social media. Extremist organizations such as the Islamic State are adept at using social media messages to attract Western followers. Less clear is what tools can be used ...