Blog

By Amy-Louise Watkin This article summarises a recent paper published in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism that forms part of a special issue on the practicalities and complexities of (regulating) online terrorist content moderation. The special issue contains papers that were presented at Swansea University’s Terrorism and Social Media Conference 2022. Tech platforms have already ...

By Ashton Kingdon & Briony Gray The cost of misinformation can be deadly during crisis. Undermining public trust, emergency response effectiveness and potentially life-saving activities, misinformation has become an increasing trend in the aftermath of natural disasters that has spread like wildfire across a global audience. The expansion in the use of intelligence systems has ...

A Book Review by Joe Whittaker It is often said that online terrorism research has a data problem. While there is a sizable empirical literature into the “supply” of extremist content, such as propaganda videos, social media analyses, or jihadist magazines, we still know very little about how actual terrorists act. This data problem is, ...

by Jonathan Collins This article summarises a recent paper published in European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research The rise of harmful far-right narratives and the increasing reliance on social media platforms for socialising have created a fertile breeding ground for radical ideological movements and social divisions during the (and “post”) pandemic. However, there is ...

By Camille Antunes Online platforms and social media channels have given new opportunities for terrorists to reach more audiences, significantly enhancing their ability to radicalise and recruit. As a result, online monitoring has become vital to prevent the dissemination of violent extremist and terrorist content online that can contribute to radicalisation, and counter-terrorism operations. As ...

A Book Review by Ashley Mattheis Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right takes an innovative line of approach to exploring processes of radicalization through an analysis of spaces and places where interaction and engagement with extremism occur. This may seem a small shift but represents a major perspectival refocusing in both practical ...

By Ninian Frenguelli and Amy-Louise Watkin Research into online extremist behaviour is centred around Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, 4chan, Telegram, and Gab. Studies focusing on platforms where image sharing is the purpose (rather than text or video sharing) are generally underrepresented in the literature on online extremist content. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube account for 55%, 35% and 8.7% of the studies ...

Welcome to Volume 10, Issue 2 of the VOX-Pol Newsletter. UPCOMING WEBINAR The EU Regulation on Terrorist Content Online (TCO): What It Means for Tech Platforms, Thursday 22 June 2023, 1800 CET. This webinar will introduce the work of Tech Against Terrorism Europe (TATE), established to drive greater awareness about the EU’s new regulation on online terrorist content. VOX-Pol ...

The VOX-Pol Publication Series is available free to read online on our publications page, and we are pleased offer printed copies free of charge. Email info@voxpol.eu with your address and the number of copies you’d like to receive. Reports available on request are: Online Extremism and Terrorism Researchers’ Security, Safety, and Resilience: Findings from the ...

Anthony F. Lemieux, Georgia State University Background:  Our research team at Georgia State University (Anthony Lemieux, P.I., Dror Walter, Rebecca Wilson, Katherine Kountz, John Hendry, Allison Betus, and Mor Yachin) and the University of Cincinnati (Michael Loadenthal) have been working on analyses of a corpus of leaked interviewing and vetting calls provided to our research ...