Blog
What Is the Link Between Computer Gaming and Hate-based Ideologies?
February 10, 2021
Want to submit a blog post? Click here. By Helen Young and Geoff Boucher On 26 February this year, members of the extreme-Right group Atomwaffen Division in the United States were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism. Alongside plans for the intimidation of journalists, including death threats, the group aimed to ...
Blog
Tackling Online Radicalization at Its Offline Roots
February 3, 2021
Want to submit a blog post? Click here. By William Baldét You would be forgiven for thinking that the advent of Covid-19 and the accompanying lockdowns have led to the mass radicalization of our youth, consigned to cyberspace, and exposed to vast swathes of online terrorist propaganda. It’s true that cases of ‘self-radicalization’ in the ...
Blog
Examining the Developmental Pathways of Online Posting Behavior in Violent Right-Wing Extremist Forums
January 27, 2021
This article summarizes a recent study published in Terrorism and Political Violence. By Ryan Scrivens, Thomas W. Wojciechowski, and Richard Frank Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers have paid close attention to the presence of terrorists and extremists online in recent years, with a particular emphasis on digital communities that facilitate extreme right-wing ideologies. This is largely ...
News
VOX-Pol in the News
January 25, 2021
VOX-Pol expertise has been featured in the news since the storming of the United States Capitol on 6 January 2021. The events, which led to five deaths, sparked a discussion about online deplatforming. VOX-Pol Fellows, such as JM Berger, Bharath Ganesh, Sam Jackson and Maura Conway have been quoted in The New York Times, VOX, ...
Blog
Big Tech’s Rejection of Parler Shuts down a Site Favored by Trump Supporters – and Used by Participants in the US Capitol Insurrection
January 20, 2021
By Alex Newhouse Early in the morning of Jan. 11, the social media platform Parler went offline after Amazon withdrew the platform’s web hosting services. Parler sued Amazon in response. Amazon’s move followed Google and Apple’s banning the Parler app from their app stores. The tech companies cited the platform’s inability or unwillingness to block calls for and threats of ...
Blog
QAnon and the Storm of the U.S. Capitol: The Offline Effect of Online Conspiracy Theories
January 13, 2021
By Marc-André Argentino What is the cost of propaganda, misinformation and conspiracy theories? Democracy and public safety, to name just two things. The United States has received a stark lesson on how online propaganda and misinformation have an offline impact. For weeks, Donald Trump has falsely claimed the November presidential election was rigged and that’s ...
Blog
ISIS and the Militant Jihad on Instagram, Part III: Counter-Narrative Strategies
January 6, 2021
This article is the third of a three-part series. Part one is HERE and part two is HERE. [Ed.] By Anne Speckhard and Molly Ellenberg ICSVE has over the past two years, in partnership with Facebook, run over 125 campaigns in countries and languages all over the globe with good success in reaching the target audience ...
Blog
ISIS and the Militant Jihad on Instagram, Part II: Terrorist Propagandizing and Recruitment Strategies
December 30, 2020
This article is the second of a three-part series. Part one is HERE and part three is HERE. [Ed.] By Anne Speckhard and Molly Ellenberg Research on Instagram in Regard to Terrorist Propagandizing and Recruitment Strategies Most research on the impact of Instagram focuses on the different communities that exist on Instagram. While some communities, such as ...
Blog
ISIS and the Militant Jihad on Instagram, Part I: Identifying Supporters
December 23, 2020
This article is part one of a three-part series. Part two is HERE and part three is HERE. [Ed.] By Anne Speckhard and Molly Ellenberg Identifying ISIS and Militant Jihadist Supporters on Instagram Identifying those supporting jihadist ideology and groups on Instagram is a relatively simple task. By searching on Islamic terms and names often associated ...
Blog
The Christchurch Terror Attack: A Case of Online Radicalisation?
December 16, 2020
By Joe Whittaker & Chamin Herath On 15 March, 2019, a far-right terrorist conducted two consecutive attacks at Mosques in New Zealand’s capital, Christchurch. The attacker killed 51 people who had come for Friday Prayers and injured 40 more. In August of 2020 he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for his crimes. ...