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The nature of terrorism financing has evolved with the exponential development and expansion of the internet. This dimension of terrorism funding has become a critical source for terrorist organisational mobilisation. The cyber funding of terrorism has coincided with the remarkable technological progress that has been achieved in the last few decades. This chapter provides a general background to the development of cyber terrorism funding. Then, it introduces relevant areas surrounding the cyber dimensions of terrorism financing that are currently challenging scholars, experts, and policymakers alike, including discussions on social media, cryptocurrencies, and the dark web. The chapter then discusses some technological tools and initiatives needed to counter the evolving nature of cyber terrorism funding through artificial intelligence techniques and protocols. Finally, it concludes with a discussion on future challenges. One potential tool that can aid in preventing terrorism funding is the utilisation of artificial intelligence.

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The World White Web provides an interdisciplinary analysis of far-right radicalisation in the digital age, drawing from criminology, history, and computer science to explore how technology and imagery accelerate extremist recruitment. The book examines 20,000 internet memes to reveal white supremacy’s deep historical roots. It demonstrates how far-right propagandists leverage historical narratives and symbols to influence modern-day recruitment, bridging fringe and mainstream ideas across diverse time periods, countries and contexts, amid technological and social changes. Topics include racism and xenophobia in Greek and Roman antiquity, antisemitism in the Middle Ages, anti-Black racism rooted in the Antebellum South, the weaponisation of the Reconquista in Spain, the memeification of the Rurik Dynasty in Russia, Crusader iconography in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, eco-fascist propaganda in the Balkans, neo-Nazi mythology in India, and Völkisch ideology in Germany and Austria. The book emphasises the importance of interdisciplinary, socio-technical and multi-stakeholder approaches to truly comprehend and address the contemporary manifestations and threats posed by the global interconnectedness of the far right online.

The article examines online radicalization of youth on social networks. Based on a review of the existing literature on radicalization, I first defined its understanding. Having examined the existing approaches, I joined the opinion that radicalism leads to violence only in some cases. I distinguish between “cognitive” radicalization, or the formation of extreme beliefs, and “behavioral” radicalization, which leads to extremist behavior. Thus, radicalization is the process of accepting certain ideas that can lead to possible violent actions. Online radicalization is a reality that has emerged in the last 10-15 years due to the rapid development of online social networks. I understand it as the formation of radical views, yet mainly through interaction with various types of Internet content and not direct personal communication or written study of propaganda materials. Further, also based on monitoring of relevant sources, I developed a model of risk factors that can trigger the radicalization process. Of the many possible factors, I chose, in my opinion, the most significant ones. Firstly, these are social macro-level risk factors that violate norms and homeostasis, creating internal tensions, namely: the ongoing conflict with the West and existential threats of its escalation, the prevalence of ideologies that justify violence, the formation of a new information and semantic environment of fakes and simulacra, socio-economic problems, dangers of social disintegration. Secondly, these are age-psychological risk factors for changes in the consciousness and behavior of young people in a harmful direction, namely: the search for a new belonging, provocative behavior and nonconformism. I believe that the onset of radicalization among young people is initiated by the inability of some of them to satisfactorily solve their age-related developmental tasks in the context of increasing problematization of the social environment. Finally, I presented a model of the mechanisms of online radicalization as the realization of offline potential. These are interconnected mechanisms, namely: compensation for vulnerability, consolidation of isolation through online immersion, facilitation, echo chambers, acceleration of radicalization, launching actions offline.

This chapter is a contribution to the debate on information resilience and national security from the perspective of countering violent Islamist extremism in the arc of instability. The narratives crafted by various violent Islamist extremists are a form of information resilience, but in this case, they act as counterforces, hindering state efforts to prepare for and withstand the onslaughts of terror groups. This challenge is particularly pronounced in weak and fragile states within the arc of instability. The aims of the chapter are threefold: to explore the information resilience of terrorist groups vying for power in the arc of instability; to examine the reactions and responses that extremism has produced in the commercial media; and, finally, to discuss the key challenges that governments are grappling with in controlling media content that is seen as having the potential to destabilise the already fragile security situation.

The Digital Services Act (DSA) requires designated Very Large Online Platforms and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOPs and VLOSEs) conduct assessments of the systemic risk of the dissemination of illegal content through their services- and to mitigate such risk where it arises. With regulators, researchers, civil society, and the general public finally due to see the public versions of the first systemic risk assessments conducted by VLOP and VLOSE providers, robust evaluation of the DSA’s systemic risk management approach to the dissemination of illegal content is crucial.  

CERRE’s Benchmarks for Evaluating Management of Risk of Terrorist Content Dissemination issue paper contributes to this evaluation by examining the systemic risk management approach to the dissemination terrorist content. Terrorist content is a specific subset of illegal content under the DSA that is also the subject of a complex nexus of other EU legislation, including the TERREG and several transnational initiatives. The determination of terrorist content poses a significant challenge, as authorities and platforms grapple with the use of sophisticated evasive techniques by terrorist actors, including the use of coded content or “beacons”, while also seeking to respect the fundamental rights of platform users.  

In this issue paper, author  Sally Broughton Micova explores the key definitional issues surrounding terrorist content and maps the ecosystem of actors involved in its risk assessment, mitigation, enforcement, and dissemination. Based on detailed analysis, the paper develops a series of benchmarks and concomitant metrics for the systemic risk evaluation of terrorist content.