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VOX-Pol Blog post.

Graph analytics has become instrumental in uncovering insights across various domains, specifically in social networks. It serves as a crucial tool for analyzing the relationship between users in different online platforms. In this research, we apply methods of social network analysis to examine the communication patterns among participants in an online forum recognized for far-right extremism. Our study demonstrates the actors’ relationships and activities through different aspects of applications over networks. In extensive analysis, we identify the influential actors and map their relationships throughout the course of 76 monthly networks. Moreover, we illustrate the evolution of networks over that period, and their connections with significant events. The findings of this analysis aim to understand the nature of interactions and networks, and to allow practitioners to take necessary precautions to mitigate far-right activities on various online platforms.

Although it is understudied relative to other social media platforms, YouTube is arguably the largest and most engaging online media consumption platform in the world. Recently, YouTube’s outsize influence has sparked concerns that its recommendation algorithm systematically directs users to radical right-wing content. Here we investigate these concerns with large scale longitudinal data of individuals’ browsing behavior spanning January 2016 through December 2019. Consistent with previous work, we find that political news content accounts for a relatively small fraction (11%) of consumption on YouTube, and is dominated by mainstream and largely centrist sources. However, we also find evidence for a small but growing “echo chamber” of far-right content consumption. Users in this community show higher engagement and greater “stickiness” than users who consume any other category of content. Moreover, YouTube accounts for an increasing fraction of these users’ overall online news consumption. Finally, while the size, intensity, and growth of this echo chamber present real concerns, we find no evidence that they are caused by YouTube recommendations. Rather, consumption of radical content on YouTube appears to reflect broader patterns of news consumption across the web. Our results emphasize the importance of measuring consumption directly rather than inferring it from recommendations.

This study uses a quantitative natural-language processing tool, the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC), to evaluate the content of all Q drops over time, focusing on language themes associated with three core principles of psychological influence: cognitive, emotional, and social processes. Before detailing this study, we situate it within the broader contexts of national security and the social psychology of influence literature.

We announced this inquiry into hate crime and its violent consequences in early July 2016. Our decision to undertake the inquiry followed the murder of Jo Cox MP in June in the lead-up to the EU referendum. There was also evidence of an increase in the number of attacks on people from ethnic minorities and of non-British nationality, including on their community centres and places of worship, immediately following the referendum. In addition, our inquiry into antisemitism was already under way, which was raising serious questions about how to address wider issues around the actions of those holding extremist or fixated views. It therefore seemed particularly timely and necessary to launch this
inquiry. We have received a large volume of written evidence. We have taken oral evidence on a wide range of issues including Islamophobia, misogyny, far-right extremism, the role of social media in hate crime and the particular issues faced by Members of Parliament in relation to hate crime and its violent manifestations. Our witnesses have included
academics, community organisations, social media companies, police forces and their representative organisations, the principal Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, and Ministers. We are grateful to everyone who has contributed to the inquiry.

Terrorist organizations have consistently demonstrated their ability to evolve alongside society’s ever-advancing technological landscape. Rather than relying on dependable tactics tested over several decades, terrorist organizations’ willingness to innovate has led to expanded capabilities to inflict harm upon society. The most significant technological advancement of the twenty first century is artificial intelligence (AI). Although AI will be a catalyst for societal transformation, nefarious actors will undoubtedly attempt to leverage the technology’s vast capabilities for malicious purposes, especially terrorist organizations. However, while prior research has systematically reviewed the literature to establish the state-of-the-art in AI-assisted counterterrorism, there is a noticeable knowledge gap surrounding terrorists’ use of AI in their operations. The present study employs a systematic literature review methodology to comprehensively compile and review existing scientific knowledge on the convergence of AI and terrorism. A thorough primary search across five databases and a secondary search in Google Scholar yielded twenty-eight sources meeting our inclusion criteria. The review reveals several areas where AI will likely augment current terrorist activities, including propaganda and recruitment, offensive cyber operations, attack tactics and strategies, and various day-to-day undertakings. This systematic literature review elucidates these areas of technological advancement, provides implications for policy and practice, and offers directions for future research in this critical field.