Social Media
Strategic communications: The Pakistan military’s use of social media against terrorism
September 18, 2023This study examines the Pakistan military’s strategic use of social media in encouraging and sustaining public support for the ongoing war against terrorism in Pakistan. Its findings indicate that the military used significantly different types of strategic frames in response to a fast-changing, evolving security situation in the country. Framing was used strategically to facilitate ...
From solidarity to blame game: A computational approach to comparing far-right and general public Twitter discourse in the aftermath of the Hanau terror attack
September 18, 2023Terror attacks are followed by public shock and disorientation. Previous research has found that people use social media to collectively negotiate responses, interpretations, and sense-making in the aftermath of terror attacks. However, the role of ideologically motivated discussions and their relevance to the overall discourse have not been studied. This paper ad-dresses this gap and ...
From Traits to Threats – Identification of Personality Traits for Individuals at Risk of Radicalisation on Social Media
September 18, 2023This Thesis contributes by proposing a method for identifying users believed to be at risk of radicalisation on social media, by utilising the social media networks of already radicalised individuals and a set of indicators derived from related work on radicalisation. In addition, this Thesis provides a new to the field, in-depth analysis of the ...
Mobilizing against Islam on social media: hyperlink networking among European far-right extra-parliamentary Facebook groups
September 18, 2023The far right is notoriously effective in its use of digital media to mobilize people and to build a sense of collective identity around oppositional cultures. Yet, while research has begun to explore far-right groups’ social media hyperlinking activities, relatively little is known about the purposes and communicative functions of this form of communication. By ...
Radical Right Activities in Nusantara’s Digital Landscape: A Snapshot
September 18, 2023This study analysed three social media movements linked with extreme right‑wing activities online. Such activities were carried out by right‑wing extremists and those who support their philosophy of nationalism and religious conservatism, whether actively or passively. This study also investigated how themes and narratives from across the globe, such as US political discourse, Russian disinformation ...
Entitlement, Victimhood, and Hate: A Digital Ethnography of the Canadian Right-Wing Social Media Landscape
September 18, 2023This dissertation is, at its core, an interrogation of white masculinity in Canada’s right-wing spaces. While my interlocutors spent a great deal of time discussing others, namely immigrants, globalist elites, and feminists, through their discourse, they revealed a lot more about themselves and their perceived victimhood (Berbrier, 2000). This victimhood is derived from what Hage ...
The Impact of the Internet and Cyberspace on the Rise in Terrorist Attacks Across the US and Europe
September 18, 2023This chapter critically analyses the impact of the Internet and associated technology on the rise in terrorist attacks across the US and Europe over the last two decades. To this end, the chapter will be focusing on jihadists’ use of the Internet, yet comparisons will also be made with the radical right. Although there exist ...
The Impact of the Internet and Social Media Platforms on Radicalisation to Terrorism and Violent Extremism
September 18, 2023This chapter critically discusses the evidence suggesting that the Internet and SMPs affect radicalisation to violent extremism. The chapter specifically focuses on arguments surrounding echo chambers, opportunities for women to remain anonymous and the role of identity construction for the youth. The study also critically discusses the evidence negating the notion that the Internet and ...
The Use of the Internet and the Internet of Things in Modern Terrorism and Violent Extremism
September 18, 2023This chapter will examine the role of the Internet and associated technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing (CC) in the process of radicalisation to terrorism and violent extremism. Particular emphasis will be placed upon the role of online environments in facilitating communication and the spread of extremist ideology, as opposed ...
The Online Extremist Ecosystem: Its Evolution and a Framework for Separating Extreme from Mainstream
September 18, 2023In this Perspective, the authors introduce a framework for internet users to categorize the virtual platforms they use and to understand the likelihood that they may encounter extreme content online. The authors first provide a landscape of the online extremist “ecosystem,” describing how the proliferation of messaging forums, social media networks, and other virtual community ...