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In this paper, I review U.S. constitutional considerations for lawmakers seeking to balance terrorist threats against free expression online. The point is not to advocate for any particular rule. In particular, I do not seek to answer moral or norms-based questions about what content Internet platforms should take down. I do, however, note the serious tensions between calls for platforms to remove horrific but First Amendment-protected extremist content – a category that probably includes the Christchurch shooter’s video – and calls for them to function as “public squares” by leaving up any speech the First Amendment permits. To lay out the issue, I draw on analysis developed at greater length in previous publications. This analysis concerns large user-facing platforms like Facebook and Google, and the word “platform” as used here refers to those large companies, not their smaller counterparts.

VOX-Pol Blog post.

The approach from the far-right in producing and disseminating visual propaganda has allowed for a persistent online presence to be maintained, despite efforts to remove extremist and hateful content. This chapter will critically explore the academic literature which considers how far-right actors are taking advantages of the affordances of online communication routes to spread visual propaganda. Three key strategies which emerge from the literature will be critically discussed to understand the role of visual imagery in facilitating and maintaining far-right online discourse. Firstly, the use of imagery to other out-groups through boundary construction will be considered. From understanding how such representations drive online engagement, the second strategy of image and information manipulation will be discussed. This strategy will consider how the far-right take advantage of social media systems to garner more visibility through manipulating and framing imagery. Lastly, considerations will be made towards how humour through meme images and board subculture have been used as a strategy to lower the boundary for the participation in extremist ideology.

This book presents an analysis of the male supremacist ideology of the internet-based subculture known as the manosphere and examines the process of radicalization to violent extremism that occurs within the group. The manosphere is the online subculture comprised of several distinct groups who share a basic gender ideology that is misogynistic and anti-feminist in the extreme. The manosphere celebrates a toxic hegemonic masculinity that encourages sexual violence and portrays violence as an understandable response to a feminized culture that denigrates manhood. Evidence has shown that several recent cases of murder, mass murder, and rape involved offenders who participated in this subculture prior to engaging in their crimes. Through the use of quotes gathered directly from the websites and message boards frequented by individuals within the subculture, this book offers an in-depth analysis of the ideology of the manosphere, and the common attitudes, values, and beliefs promoted within the various groups that comprise the subculture. It will also present a theoretical perspective that may shed light on what draws men to these groups and the processes by which they become radicalized to the far right and violent extremism. This book will be of interest to scholars and students in criminology, sociology, and political science, and others interested in examining the manifestation and effects of the manosphere on crime and criminal justice.

VOX-Pol Blog Post.

This report presents findings from a quantitative study, which aimed to explore the role of the Internet in radicalisation and offending of 235 convicted extremists in England and Wales.